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All eyes in Toronto may be on the overdue LRT projects on Eglinton and Finch, or the exciting new Ontario Line that will carve its way through the city’s downtown, becoming the first new subway line constructed in town since the early 2000s.
But it’s another major subway project in the works that is spurring an unprecedented development boom along Yonge Street, soon to transform North York’s skyline into one of the most impressive in the region.
The province is touting Metrolinx’s Yonge North Subway Extension as a transformative boon for North York and York Region, set to extend the busy Line 1 subway north approximately eight kilometres from Finch Station to serve Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill with five new stations.
Indeed, the forthcoming subway extension has already begun to spur the transformation of Yonge Street through an avalanche of high-flying proposals that would add tens of thousands of new residents to the area surrounding Toronto’s northern city limit.
Local digital marketer and passionate city-building commentator Stephen Velasco has been documenting all of this growth through his Future Model Toronto project, now approaching its eight year of progress.
Velasco was first featured by blogTO in 2011 as a teenager for his cardboard city model, before evolving to computer-generated models in 2017. He has since shared regular updates on the city’s planned evolution on social media, amassing thousands of followers along the way.
A look at planned development along Yonge Street in North York:#Toronto #urbanplanning #transit pic.twitter.com/wnIWgXhR0Y
— Future Model Toronto (@FutureModelTO) November 12, 2024
Velasco’s latest diagram shows the deluge of density coming to North York, with buildings shaded blue representing projects already under construction, with projects currently working through the planning and approvals process shaded in pink.
Velasco tells blogTO that “North York City Centre’s linear skyline is about to double in length, extending density to Steeles Avenue, with a wave of high-rise development proposed ahead of the Yonge North Subway Extension.”
The massive influx of tall buildings in the area would indeed add quite a bit of length to North York City Centre’s relatively narrow skyline, hugging its urban core along Yonge Street.
“The area is also the largest employment centre outside of Downtown Toronto,” says Velasco, and it’s only going to get larger in the years to come.
The vertical growth on tap for this area includes upwards of 25 towers with over 8,200 residential units either proposed, approved or under construction in the narrow corridor along Yonge Street between Highway 401/Sheppard Avenue and Finch Avenue.
However, the density coming down the pipeline grows to absolutely colossal proportions just a bit further north on Yonge Street, where the new subway extension is fostering a tidal wave of development for the northernmost portion of Yonge in Toronto.
Velasco points to a staggering pipeline of over 75 towers with a combined unit count in excess of 32,000 for the area around Yonge Street from north of Cummer/Drewry Ave to Steeles Avenue at the city’s northern boundary.
South of the dividing line, some of the Toronto previously featured on blogTO include 6355 Yonge, 88 Steeles West, 10 Abitibi Avenue, 26 Nipigon Avenue, and the redevelopment of Centerpoint Mall.
North of Steeles, some of the biggest projects in the works on the Vaughan side of this new skyline include 7028 Yonge, 72 Steeles West, and 7200 Yonge.
