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Redevelopment plans for a compact site at 69 Yorkville Avenue north of Bay station in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood have faced scrutiny over the site's suitability for high-rise development, given the minimal tower separation from its neighbours and the street’s upscale character. Now, a revised settlement proposal for a 39-storey mixed-use building, designed by JET Design Architect for Cheong Family Holdings, is heading to a Merit Hearing at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). It includes retail and an unspecified museum component, removing its previously proposed office space.
The site on the south side of Yorkville Avenue between Bellair and Bay streets spans approximately 759m². Currently occupied by a mixed-use low-rise building, the site is flanked by a mix of low-rise heritage buildings and emerging high-rises.
In 2021, an Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment application proposed a 29-storey mixed-use building with 143 residential units, retail, and office space. However, the City refused the application, citing incompatibility with Yorkville’s low-rise village character due to height and massing. In February, 2023, the developer appealed this decision to the OLT.
In June, 2024, the developer submitted the latest version of the proposal, increasing the height to 39 storeys, or 123.75m. To address concerns about scale, its already slender tower floor-plate of 540-546m² has been reduced to 410m². The revised design also reshapes the Gross Floor Area (GFA), now totalling 14,654m², down from 15,630m² in the original submission, reducing the Floor Space Index (FSI) from 21.4 to 19.3 coverage of the site. Office space of 1,293m² on podium levels has been eliminated, while space for a so-far unnamed museum is now allocated on the second and third floors along with a gift shop at grade.
The residential unit count has risen from 143 to 199 units. This change shifts the unit mix to focus more heavily on smaller layouts, with 68% 1-bedroom units, compared to 29% in the original plan. Residential GFA has been reduced to 13,041m², while ground-floor retail space has been trimmed to 133m².
Indoor amenities would span 461m², located on the fourth and fifth floors, while outdoor amenities have been reduced from 373m² to 250m², distributed between the fourth floor and the rooftop terrace. The building would feature three residential elevators (plus a fourth serving the museum), achieving a ratio of one elevator per 66 units, indicating minimal wait times.
Below grade, the design offers a six-level underground garage with 111 vehicle parking spaces, up from 95 in the original plan. The garage includes automated parking with car lifts for levels P2 to P6. For cyclists, there would be 223 bicycle parking spaces, up from 155, including 180 long-term and 40 short-term spots, plus three designated for non-residential use.
Bay station is a two-minute walk to the south, and the site is also supported by TTC bus routes on Avenue Road and Bay Street. Cyclists benefit from dedicated bike lanes along Bay Street, as well as shared cycling connections on nearby streets.
Other significant projects and proposals are found nearby. To the west, retail-village-scaled 4-storey proposals on Yorkville Avenue give way to larger projects like the 31-storey One Thirty Eight, currently under construction. To the east, 1255 Bay is proposed at 39 storeys, complementing nearby projects like 11 YV, rising to 62 storeys, and The Pemberton, which features conjoined towers of 44 and 68 storeys. Further northeast, 50 Scollard is under construction at 41 storeys, while 30 Scollard is proposed at 62 storeys. To the south, towering proposals at 83 and 80 Bloor Street West aim for 77 and 78 storeys, while southeast, 50 and 19 Bloor Street West target 70 and 99 storeys, along with The One, rising to 85 storeys.
The OLT merit hearing for 69 Yorkville Avenue is scheduled to start on December 2, 2024.
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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