NEWS

Bayview development scaled back to please locals

Part of Bayview Avenue could eventually look quite a bit different if the latest development proposal by the Brown Group is approved.

But not as much as it would have under the project’s original plan.

Block of buildings to be replaced by Bayview development
TO BE REPLACED: The existing block of apartments and detached homes on Bayview Avenue.

The plan for a mixed use project on the west side of Bayview between Hillsdale and
Soudan avenues has been in the works at least since the community first saw it in December 2014 as a plan for a building of nine storeys plus penthouse.

But for two more community consultations — one in April 2015 and another last month — the proposal has been scaled back, first to eight storeys, and then to seven storeys.

The South Eglinton Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association is pleased with the changes, says SERRA president Andy Gort who was at last month’s meeting.

“The developer heard loud and clearly we didn’t agree with the development,” he says of earlier consultations.

Consequently the developer has made accommodations not just by lowering the height, but by adding parking and even by changing the design to make it more of a brick-and-glass building (rather than steel-and-glass) to fit the  area.

SERRA had been working with the Leaside Property Owners’ Association and councillor Josh Matlow to have the plan for Bayview development modified.

It is pleased “in general” with the proposal but is reluctant to endorse it completely yet, Gort says, since the city seems to have some reservations.

The city planning department surprised both residents and the developers by announcing just before last month’s consultation that it was not ready to make an application for the project because it was awaiting completion of the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan, under which this project falls.

The city has said this could take until next year.

The developer, however, has said it cannot wait that long, and if it does not get the go-ahead by fall it will take the plan to the Ontario Municipal Board.

The plan calls for demolition of a low-rise apartment building and several homes facing Bayview.

The affected addresses in this development proposal are 1674–1684 Bayview Ave., 701–713 Soudan Ave. and 720 Hillsdale Ave. East.

Bayview development original plan.
BEFORE: The original nine-storey (plus) proposal for Bayview.

2 thoughts on “Bayview development scaled back to please locals

  • Not if it’s that much glass & steel. It wold look like the building on the North-East corner of Bayview and Sheppard that stick out like a sore thumb besides all the traditional buildings, The buildings I have seen proposed so far for the Leaside/Bayview/Eglinton area have no architectural merit. This is a brick & mortar neighbourhood. We need a cohesive design model for Bayview Avenue South to match that of further north on Bayview. We need to give it some elegance, all I see so far is a hodgepodge of disconnected design.

  • If we could get something like this at the corner of Bayview and Eglinton when they tear down Sunnybrook Plaza.

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