Proposal for two highrises, new retail store at Canadian Tire land on Danforth Avenue heading to Ontario Land Tribunal

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canadian Tire Real Estate Limited will be taking its development proposal for its lands on Danforth Avenue just east of Main Street to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

The move to take the plan for two highrise residential meeting and a new Canadian Tire store at street level comes after Toronto City Council’s failure to make a decision on the application concerning the property at 2681 Danforth Ave.

The virtual OLT hearing is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29.

Canadian Tire is seeking approval for two towers – 33-and 44-storey mixed-use buildings – that will have 905 residential units comprising 565 one-bedrooms, 249 two-bedrooms, and 91 three-bedroom units.

The proposed building has total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 79,854 square metres with 11,066 square metres reserved for Canadian Tire retail operations.

It is currently unknown exactly what is the reason behind Toronto Council’s failure to come to a decision on the matter. Beach Metro Community News reached out to city officials but received no additional information as the proposal is “subject to continued confidential negotiations.”

Increased density at Main Street and Danforth Avenue has been the subject of much debate and public consultation as development proposals will further intensify the area, which is located close to both the Danforth GO station and the Main Street subway station.

Presently, there are a number of proposals for highrise residential buildings in the area including a project to add additional buildings to the Main Square site and to the strip of land just north of the Danforth GO station platform.

Those projects in the area include five new buildings at 2575 Danforth Ave. which will range from 15 to 55 storeys, and a 38-storey mixed-use building at 8 Dawes Rd. Those three projects (including the Canadian Tire property) alone are expected to create over 2,800 more units in the bustling intersection. However, there has been much public concern about the lack of affordable units in the proposals considering Toronto’s affordability crisis.

The Main Square Community Centre is located on Main Street just south of Danforth Avenue and north of the railway tracks.

Residents in the surrounding area also worried about their access to the Main Square Community Centre, which city officials had earlier acknowledged was reaching the end of its lease.

However, Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford told Beach Metro Community News that a new 10-year lease extension is now in place for the facility.

“Programming will continue to operate out of the current site for the foreseeable future as planning and development work continues for the new community centre facility which will replace it,” said Bradford.

The Feb. 29 OLT hearing on the Canadian Tire proposal will be available by video conference. Anyone who would like to participate can do so by logging in at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/660145013

Interested parties are also advised to contact Tamara Zwarycz (tamara.zwarycz@ontario.ca) for more details on how to participate in the OLT proceedings.

— Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.