Location: 1500 Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Developer: Alterra and Distrikt Developments
Architect: Sweeny & Co.
In Toronto’s Earlscourt neighbourhood, a duo of “Y-shaped” buildings could deliver hundreds of new condos along St. Clair Avenue West.
Last week, an Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment application was submitted to city planners to build a 15- and a 17-storey building with a total of 753 units at 1500-1536 St. Clair Avenue West and 20-36 Caledonia Road.
The development site in question, which entails an “assembly of properties,” is located on the northwest corner of St. Clair Avenue West and Caledonia Road. Spanning roughly 120,577 square feet, the site is rectangular in shape with the majority of its frontage on Caledonia Road. The site is currently used for industrial and retail-commercial uses, and is occupied by various low-rise buildings with surface parking areas, according to the planning rationale by Bousfields Inc.
The proposal would demolish the existing industrial-commercial buildings to make way for the two new structures. The plan comprises a 17-storey high-rise with retail and residential uses — Building A — and a 15-storey residential building, referred to as Building B. The two high-rises would share the ground floors of a podium and a parking garage.
Building A would occupy the southern portion of the site near St. Clair Avenue West, while Building B would be positioned on the northern portion. The Y-shaped buildings would each consist of three distinct wings, with the highest points of the structure located in the centre, then tapering down in size and away from the building’s core.
Of the 753 units between the buildings — tenured as condos, according to the application’s project data sheet — the breakdown would include 564 one-bedroom, 114 two-bedroom and 75 three-bedroom units. Building A would contain 382 suites, with the remaining 363 residences in Building B. All units would have access to a balcony or a private terrace.
Steep elevation differences between the northwest and southwest corners of the site call for an upper and lower ground floor located at the front of the lot, explains the planning rationale. The lower ground level under Building A would house a double-height retail-commercial space fronting St. Clair Avenue West. A lobby entrance for the building plus parking and bicycle storage space would also share the lower ground level.
The upper ground floor would provide a second retail space along Caledonia Road, as well as a shared lobby for both buildings. The same levels would also make room for two indoor amenity areas, eight two-storey townhouse units, parking areas and another entrance for Building B. A total of 32,786 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space would be included in the development.
An elevated outdoor amenity courtyard would separate Buildings A and B, and a public piazza would be incorporated along St. Clair Avenue West. A landscaped pedestrian trail is pitched for the site’s western lot line, connecting St. Clair Avenue West to Lambert Avenue.
A three-level underground parking garage and a surface parking area would provide a total of 332 parking spots. In the development, 754 bicycle parking spots would also be incorporated.
In the neighbourhood, sales continue at St. Clair Village, while construction is underway at Reunion Crossing Condos & Urban Towns.
