What a difference a year can make!
On January 12, 2021, the City held a (virtual) community consultation meeting about this project. At that time the 8 storey parking garage, with frontage on Harbour and Lower Simcoe Streets, was going to be demolished and replaced by a 12 storey podium on much the same footprint, topped by two residential condominium towers of 41 and 71 storeys. Vehicular access was to be taken from the existing driveways serving the Waterclub complex.
Now we are learning that the developers, Diamondcorp and Lifetime Developments, have responded to input from City staff, the Waterfront Design Review Panel, and the community, to come up with a revised proposal.
As the rendering (right) shows, the idea now is for one tower towards the east end of the site. The height is 59 storeys on a 5 storey podium, yielding 1002 units and 400 sq m of commercial space close to Lower Simcoe Street. 10% of the units are still to be affordable. The green space at the intersection of Lower Simcoe and Harbour Streets is increased slightly to 500 sq m and is now intended to be a public park rather than publicly-accessible private land.
The access for parking, loading and drop-off is to be from Harbour Street. They are planning for 340 parking spots on 4 levels underground, 150 for the residents and 190 for paying customers. Parking and storage is proposed for 1003 bicycles.
A second community information meeting was held on February 9, 2022 via Webex. Click here to see a presentation by Toronto city planner Sue McAlpine on recent developments at 270 Queens Quay West.
