Scarborough Town Centre is a popular destination in eastern Toronto, and Canada’s fourth-largest mall. Since 2016, developer Oxford Properties Group has been working on a masterplan in consultation with the City to bring over 15,000 new residential units around the expansive mall site. As part of these changes, Urban Strategies Inc has submitted applications on behalf of Oxford for Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment, for two towers on the east side of the site, referred to as Scarborough Town Centre Block 2.
The site is located on the west side of McCowan Road, just north of Progress Avenue, with the Scarborough Town Centre mall just to the west. At the time of the application, the land is a surface level parking lot for those using the mall and/or the Cineplex Cinemas. The site is about 5,636m² in area, but this will eventually be impacted by the planned realignments of Borough Drive and Progress Avenue. (The first development at the Scarbourough Town Centre site, known as Block C, is to the west of the mall facing Brimley Road.)
The proposed design by Sweeny&Co Architects would result in two new mixed-use towers connected by a shared podium. There would be ground-floor retail alongside a new entrance for the future Scarborough Centre subway station along McCowan Road. The design calls for a two-level lobby and a secondary lobby on the south side. The podium’s height would vary between four and six storeys, and feature a two-storey amenity feature on the fifth floor over the plaza of the new subway station.
The two towers would stand 51 and 53 storeys, or 165m and 180m respectively. The design entails a step-back of 3.0m from the podium for both towers. The tower separation would be 29.9m, with the intention being to mark the entrance of the future subway station’s entrance. Combined, the towers, that have floor-plates of 750m² each, are planned to bring 1,078 residential units to the site.
For drivers, the proposed design includes six levels of parking: one underground, one at-grade, and four above-grade included within the podium. The result means a total of 235 parking spaces, of which 16 would be for non-residential and visitor use. For bicyclists, the proposal provides 834 long-term and short-term bicycle spots. Furthermore, 235 of the vehicle and 125 of the bicycle spaces would feature energized and electrical vehicular outlets. In addition, there would be two car share spaces.
The proposal is intended to complement the coming Scarborough Centre station as part of the Scarborough Subway Extension that will replace the existing Scarborough RT. The site is situated next to the under construction line and station, which will also be serviced by numerous bus routes that connect to rapid transit here, including four GO transit routes.
While the design for Scarborough Town Centre Block 2 proposes significant intensification to part of the site, the towers would be a small part of a much larger plan to develop Scarborough Town Centre’s surrounding area, bolstering one of Toronto’s most popular destinations.
The developer’s masterplan for Scarborough Town Centre is intended to gradually transform the area around the mall, now mostly parking lots, and replace them with 21 blocks of mixed-use buildings, with the goal of creating a transit-oriented community. The proposal notes several condominiums built in the surrounding area over the past two decades, with growth expected to continue. The proposal lists 11 development applications in the area that would result in over 11,670 residential units and 31,660m² of non-residential gross floor area.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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