Location: 214 Merton Street, Toronto
Developer: Kingsett Capital
Architect: BDP Quadrangle
A series of office and commercial buildings in Toronto’s Mount Pleasant West community could make way for a new high-rise development thanks to new project plans.
Between April and late May, documents for an official plan and zoning by-law amendment application were filed with the City of Toronto to build a 35-storey mixed-use building with 346 units at 214, 218 and 224 Merton Street.
The developer on the application, Kingsett Capital, has worked on a number of downtown condo development proposals in the past. This includes plans to replace a hotel plaza in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood with a 78-storey tower, and construct a 59-storey high-rise near Yonge and Wellesley streets.
The development is proposed for the north side of Merton Street, just west of Pailton Crescent. The site, which spans about 1,683 square metres in size, is irregularly-shaped. Three low-rise commercial and office properties with paved parking areas occupy the land.
If approved, the new residential development would rise 35 storeys, supported by a podium that ranges from three- to five-storeys along the edge of Merton Street. To distinguish the tower from the podium portion, the high-rise has been designed with a deep inset on the sixth level, making room for outdoor amenity space on this floor. “Warm,” red brick cladding would be incorporated on the podium to mimic buildings in the surrounding area.
Of the total 346 units proposed in the development, the breakdown would include 206 one-bedroom, 104 two-bedroom and 36 three-bedroom suites.
Entry to the tower would be provided off of a residential lobby on Merton Street next to two ground-floor retail units with separate entrances. The easternmost retail suite would provide access to a connected outdoor seating area and secondary entrance at the rear of the building along Pailton Crescent.
A pedestrian walkway would be built along the site’s western property line to allow residents access from Merton Street to the proposal’s 371 square-metre off-site parkland dedication that would be built north of the new development. The parkland has been “strategically located,” to adjoin with another nearby application slated for 185 Balliol Street.
The new mixed-use tower would provide 1,392 square metres of amenity space. About 468 square metres would be dedicated towards a double-storey indoor amenity area on the tower’s second floor, which is also shared with five residential units. Additional indoor amenity facilities would be constructed on levels four and six, with connecting outdoor amenities on the same floors.
The tower’s three-level underground parking garage would provide 59 vehicle spaces and 347 bicycle parking spots. The first underground level would be used almost exclusively for bicycle parking, which includes 312 long-term and 29 short-term spaces.
In the neighbourhood, sales continue at Y&S Condos while registration is open for The Millwood Condos.
