The stretch of Bloor Street West book-ended by Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue is going through a transformation. The question is whether it’s a good one. We’re finally seeing an end to so many “Store for Rent” signs, but that’s been at the expense of a lot of chains moving in. It remains to be […]

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Owner/Developer: The Wynn Group Status: Pending, before the OMB We reported last year in this space that the City had rejected the Wynn Group’s proposal to build a 22-storey private student residence, fitness club, and recreate the Silver Dollar Room at the College Street and Spadina Avenue site. The developer has appealed the matter to […]

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Owner/Developer: Mix of private owners, University of Toronto On the face of it, U of T is an academic institution. It’s also one of the city’s most prominent landowners and developers. And clearly, it’s still figuring out how to balance its academic needs with responsible development. Consider its proposal to develop a student residence at […]

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Owner/Developer: Tribute Communities, Knightstone Capital Management Status: Underway For many community members, College Street is an example of what not to do when it comes to development. Height is the predominant feature of two major projects that are now underway: Tribute Communities’ College Condominium at 297 College St. and Knightstone Capital’s private student residence at […]

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Owner/Developer: University of Toronto Status: Under construction Construction is well underway at 1 Spadina Cres., the nineteenth-century Gothic revival building that was previously home to Knox College and Connaught Laboratories. Once completed some time in the 2015/2016 academic year, the building will be a mix of old and new, with the restored historic building facing […]

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While Bathurst Street still looks the same as it did at this time last year, much has changed at the planning level. In July, RioCan and the City reached a compromise regarding the redevelopment of 410-446 Bathurst St., the former site of Kromer Radio. Walmart will not be a tenant for at least 15 years […]

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Owner/Developer: 500 Bloor Street Property Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Westbank Corp. Status: Proposal pending Community members are eagerly anticipating Westbank’s second open house on March 3, when it will present the initial concept for the redevelopment of the $100-million, 1.8-hectare southeast corner of Bloor and Bathurst streets. So far, Westbank is modelling a new […]

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Board destructive to environment Most people in this neighbourhood have a horror story or two to tell about the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). No doubt the majority of cases to hit the OMB are ruled in the developer’s favour. While many will focus on the aesthetics and neighbourhood impact of the board, I tend to […]

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One-time announcements rob City of ability to plan By Adam Vaughan The delay of the federal budget has only really delayed bad news for Toronto. Our city has exceptional needs in housing and transit. Ottawa is nowhere to be found on these files, and it appears from questions asked in the House of Commons that […]

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The edict from Liz Sandals, the province’s education minister, to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) that it must, among other things, decide on which underutilized schools should close might just break the institution into shell-shocked pieces. Closing schools in any school board is a task requiring courageous confidence. Governing for the benefit of the […]

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By Annemarie Brissenden Jennifer Hollett received the New Democratic Party nomination for the new riding of University-Rosedale earlier this month at a lively meeting packed with party faithful. Trinity-Spadina councillors and trustee Joe Cressy (Ward 20), Mike Layton (Trinity-Spadina), and Ausma Malik (Ward 10), as well as Peggy Nash (MP, Parkdale-High Park), were among those […]

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Police have arrested three suspects in connection with a brutal alleyway assault last summer. Feyzullah Cetin, 19, and an 18-year-old who cannot be named under the Criminal Youth Justice Act have been charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, robbery, attempted murder, assault to cause bodily harm, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon. […]

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