Recently proposed plans for a purpose-built rental development on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue could retain and integrate the façade of a local funeral home building built in the 1930s.
On February 15th, a zoning by-law amendment application was filed with the City of Toronto to create a nine-storey mixed-use building with 228 rental units at 1095-1111 Danforth Avenue. The architect on the project, Studio JCI, has also worked on Hill and Dale Residences in Rosedale and 1 Jarvis in Hamilton.
The L-shaped development site is located on the southeast side of Danforth and Byron avenues, just west of Greenwood Avenue. Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church (1095 Danforth Avenue) and a funeral home called Trull Funeral Home and Cremation Services (1111 Danforth Avenue) currently occupy the land according to the application’s heritage impact statement.
Neither of the properties are listed on the City’s Heritage Register or designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. However, the statement notes that 1111 Danforth Avenue’s cultural heritage value is related to its association with the Trull Burial Company, one of the oldest running businesses on Danforth Avenue. The two-storey, yellow brick structure was originally intended to be an apartment building, but was reconfigured into a funeral parlour for the Trull Burial Company in 1931, according to the heritage impact statement.
The proposal seeks to demolish the existing church and funeral home and redevelop the site with a “stepped,” nine-storey purpose-built rental building. The development would maintain the existing funeral home’s Tudor revival-style façade on the northeast section of the new mid-rise “in order to preserve the heritage presence along the Danforth corridor.”
Approximately 629 square metres of the project would be set aside for commercial space, located on the building’s ground floor facing Danforth Avenue. Decorative paving and softscape planting beds would be incorporated into the building’s landscape design.
Of the 228 rental units proposed in the project, the collection would include 159 bachelor suites, 13 two-bedroom, 15 three-bedroom and 41 four-bedroom units. The majority of these residences would have private balconies or terraces. Based on the application’s architectural plans, a series of two-storey units would be added on the ground floor levels on the south side of the building.
A total of 1,504 square metres of indoor and outdoor amenity space would be included in the project. Outdoor facilities would be added on the second and rooftop levels, along with indoor amenities on these floors in addition to the ground and third levels.
Vehicle access to the site’s parking and loading area would be provided from a driveway connected to Byron Avenue along the southern property line. Twelve ground-floor parking spaces would be included on the site at the rear of the building, 10 of which would be reserved for visitors and the remainder for car-share parking. A total of 252 bicycle parking spaces for long- and short-term use would also be incorporated on the lot.
In the neighbourhood, registration is open for THEO, while sales and construction continue at The Somerside Collection.
