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At the northwest corner of Mill Road and Bloor Street West in Etobicoke's Markland Wood neighbourhood, a proposal for infill buildings at 4340 Bloor Street West has been revised in response to multiple community concerns. Following extensive input from the City, local residents, and the Markland Wood Homeowner Association (MWHA), Hazelview Investments revised its plans, leading to a settlement offer to the City of Toronto that has since been approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) as well. Now, Hazelview has provided detailed plans that adhere to the revised Zoning.
The site is bordered by Bloor Street to the south, Mill Road to the east, and flanked by Millwood Junior School to the north and Millwood Park to the west. About one hectare in size, it is home to a Y-shaped, 15-storey Tower-in-the-Park style rental building, surrounded by landscaped green spaces. Low-rise single-family housing is found across Mill Road to the east, while a neighbourhood plaza is found across Bloor Street to the south.
Initially submitted in November, 2020, concerns raised by the MWHA and other community members about building height, density, and traffic impact prompted changes. The revised 2022 submission culminated in a settlement offer adopted by City Council in March, 2023, which was subsequently approved by the OLT in June, 2023.
Designed by Turner Fleischer Architects (with the previous design by gh3), this infill project features a 13-storey building standing 47.5m to the west of the Y-shaped building, reduced from the previously proposed 16 storeys at 56.5m. East of the Y-shaped building, a new 4-storey building would stand at 18.95m. Collectively, they would offer 297 rental units, a decrease from the 327 units initially proposed.
There would be 478m² each of indoor and outdoor amenities in the taller building and 123m² of indoor and 1,130m² of outdoor amenities in the shorter structure, part of a total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 22,772m². With two elevators per building, there would be approximately one elevator for every 29 units in the shorter building and one per 120 in the other, indicating potentially prolonged wait times for the latter.
The revised design includes three levels of underground parking, which now offer 296 parking spaces, reduced from 332, in addition to the existing 89 spaces. This is complemented by 238 long-term and 23 short-term bicycle parking spaces, a slight increase from the previous total of 210.
Addressing the primary concerns of the MWHA regarding building massing, height, and potential traffic increases, the reduced heights lessen the visual impact and shadows over adjacent areas.
The MWHA also raised concerns about a possible change of access to Mill Road, tree removal, and pedestrian safety. The reconfigured layout moves the driveway further west on Bloor Street West, increasing its distance from the busy intersection with Mill Road. Increased setbacks from Mill Road and Bloor Street look to provide a buffer between the development and public thoroughfares, helping improve pedestrian safety.
The redesign also expands landscaped areas around the buildings, which are planned to include more extensive tree plantings and green spaces — most notably in the large, unencumbered landscape area now planned for the northwest corner, adjacent to the school and park grounds, particularly in proximity to a baseball diamond.
The site’s transit options include the TTC 49 bus along Bloor, serving Kipling station on Bloor Line 2, and the MiWay route travelling to the City Centre Transit Terminal at Square One.
There are many Tower-in-the-Park infill construction and proposal sites within a kilometre of the site. To the southwest, construction is progressing on another infill residential building of 9 storeys at 240 Markland Drive, while plans for 210 Markland Drive propose the addition of four 12-storey infill buildings at that Tower-in-the-Park site. To the north at Burnhamthorpe Road, another rental apartment site at 340 Mill Road also has a proposed infill tower of 19 storeys. Eastward, there are further Tower-in-the-Park infill proposals along The West Mall beside Highway 427. Similar proposals exist across the Etobicoke Creek in Mississauga along Bloor and Dundas streets as well.
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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| Related Companies: | Bousfields, Hazelview Investments, LEA Consulting, MEP Design Inc., Turner Fleischer Architects, Urban Strategies Inc. |
