A quiet block of residential and commercial properties near Toronto’s Victoria Park and Danforth intersection could soon be transformed with a major development.
Plans are in the works to redevelop an assembly of properties southeast of Victoria Park Avenue and Danforth Avenue, spanning 507-513 Victoria Park Avenue and 4-14 Thora Avenue.
Developer Sigma Group has filed an application with the City of Toronto seeking to bring a pair of towers to the site that would rise to heights of 39 storeys (127.5 metres) and 16 storeys (58 metres).
The towers’ designs from Gabriel Fain Architects feature offset massings and colourful grid-like exteriors that promise to add some visual pop to the area.
Plans call for a mixed-use configuration, with the majority of the floor area —
a total of 43,674.9 square metres — dedicated to residential space, including 578 rental residential units.
Almost half of these units would be capable of accommodating families, with 46.5 percent in the form of 2 and 3-bedroom layouts.
Along with the residential component, the plan also includes 412.7 square metres of retail space, 149.9 square metres of Montessori School / Daycare space, and 2,344 square metres of indoor and outdoor amenity space for residents of the complex.
The development proposal also aims to give back to existing residents of the community with a new public park proposed on the east side of Thora Avenue. These plans include a planned land swap to expand an area being conveyed to the City for future parkland, which would bring the public park component to 1,432.7 square metres.
Area residents concerned about traffic in the neighbourhood can rest easy knowing that a relatively minimal parking component of just 122 spaces is proposed for the complex.
The majority of residents would be expected to make use of the complex’s 638 bike parking spaces, as well as the nearby Victoria Park station on the TTC’s Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, located just a few hundred metres north of the proposal site.
Proximity to this subway station is cited as a major factor behind the proposal, with the site located within the Victoria Park Major Transit Station Area (MTSA).
According to the Province’s Growth Plan, an MTSA is defined as an area within up to an 800 metre radius of a transit station, and is being used as a planning model to encourage density in areas well-served by public transit infrastructure.
