Rendering: BuzzBuzzHome
Location: 8-16 Locust Street and 15 Oxford Drive
Builder: Trolleybus Urban Development Inc.
Architect: SvN Architects + Planners
In Toronto’s Mount Dennis neighbourhood, ideas for a new condo tower have been put on paper.
Trolleybus Urban Development Inc., a Toronto-based developer behind the 346 Davenport condo project near The Annex, recently submitted a development application and zoning bylaw amendment for a 35-storey condo project.
The 374-unit building has been proposed for a 2,675-square-metre rectangular site just north of Eglinton Avenue West, which includes lots 8 to 16 on the west side of Locust Street and a segment of land at 15 Oxford Drive, which is shared with a 10-storey apartment building. In addition to demolishing the existing properties and keeping the semi-detached residence on 8 Locust Street, the future project will also sever a 1,217-square-metre section of the 15 Oxford Drive lot and rearrange the Locust Street cul-de-sac. Part of the Canadian National Railway runs along the northern border of the site, which will connect to the future Mount Dennis station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
Source: Google Maps
“The Proposed Development seeks to revitalize these underutilized assets to a vibrant and modern vertical mixed-use community located within the Mount Dennis Mobility Hub,” reads the application’s cover letter, signed by Trolleybus Urban Development’s manager of planning and development, Kuok-Kei Hong.
SvN Architects + Planners imagine the condo as a slender building with a white glazed brick exterior atop a mixed-height podium. The building’s facade is said to pay tribute to the adjacent historical Kodak Heights site, where the former film photography plant once stood. The property will sit on a three-storey underground parking garage, and provide 381 bicycle parking spaces and a shared outdoor amenity area along the northern property line. Ten percent of the building will be reserved for three-bedroom units, approximately 36 residences, along with 96 one-bedroom, 143 one-bedroom-plus-den, and 99 two-bedroom-plus-den units.
Referring to the Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan and the Provincial Policy statement, among others, the project’s urban and planning design rationale explains that the building will contribute to transportation and infrastructure policy goals.
“From a land use perspective, the proposal is supported by a Provincial and City policy framework that seeks to direct growth to existing built-up areas through infill and intensification in proximity to higher order public transit,” reads the report. “The site is located approximately 170 metres from the Mount Dennis station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, GO transit and UP Express which is under construction.”
