Here’s what a developer wants to build at Yonge and Gerrard
What it is: A pair of condo towers, linked by an elevated bridge. They’d be 73 and 62 storeys in height, and they’d sit atop a nine-storey podium full of office and retail space. The development would span nearly half a block on the east side of Yonge Street, south of Gerrard.
Pedigree: The developer is KingSett Capital, which already owns a bunch of property in and around Toronto, including a 50 per cent share of Aura at College Park, one of the tallest residential buildings in the city. The designer is Quadrangle Architects, a firm whose work is as rectilinear as its name implies.
Most promising feature: The street-level podium would incorporate the facades of two heritage-listed buildings at 385 and 363 Yonge, which may mollify preservationists. For condo buyers, though, this place has something else to offer: atop the office space in the podium, there would be a row of two-storey, townhouse-style residences. Finding that kind of lifestyle so far above the ground is a rarity in Toronto (and the price will probably reflect that).
Risk factor: At 257 metres, this proposal is pushing the boundaries of what’s considered an acceptable height for a residential tower in the financial core. (Aura is 273 metres.)
Likely opposition: Strip club patrons. One of the existing businesses in this development’s footprint is Remingtons, the last club in Toronto with exclusively male performers. If it’s forced to shut down, it will likely never return: the city’s strict licensing regime effectively bans new strip bars in the core.
The odds: KingSett has only just applied for zoning approval, so it’s too early to say what will end up happening here. But it’s Yonge Street, so it’s safe to assume they’ll end up building something tall.
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- Here's how the podium would look from the corner of Yonge and Gerrard. The bottom floors would consist of retail and office space. Above the office space would be a row of two-storey townhouse-style residences.
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- Here's a view of the podium from the south, looking up Yonge Street. Those cute boutiques are where Remington's strip club is right now.
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- Here's how the podium fits together with the heritage-listed properties on the site.
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- And here's a side view of the towers. The bridge between them would contain amenities for condo dwellers.
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Risk factor: At 257 metres, this proposal is pushing the boundaries of what's considered an acceptable height for a residential tower in the financial core. (Aura is 273 metres.)
Likely opposition: Strip club patrons. One of the existing businesses in this development's footprint is Remingtons, the last club in Toronto with exclusively male performers. If it's forced to shut down, it will likely never return: the city's strict licensing regime effectively bans new strip bars in the core.
The odds: KingSett has only just applied for zoning approval, so it's too early to say what will end up happening here. But it's Yonge Street, so it's safe to assume they'll end up building something tall.
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The Aura isn’t just “one of the tallest residential buildings in the city”, it is THE tallest residential building in Canada.
That depends on whether you count the Trump Tower and its enormous spire.
Technically Trump is, spires are formally included as part of a building’s height. Trump also has hotel suites, so it’s not all residential which makes Aura the tallest building in Canada that is exclusively residential. Pick your pleasure.
I guess gentrification is inevitable and a sign of economic health but that strip of Yonge is going to be so comparatively snoozey, getting rid of The Zanzibar, Play De Record, The Big Slice and Remington’s. At least Play De Record can recolate somewhere. Maybe if there’s a large enough retail space Simon’s could open a downtown store there.
Zanzibar is NOT part of the plan it will remain
nice design