[AlbertC]

Public-private ventures on rise to create mixed-use urban spaces

A variety of partnerships combining historic public agency land use demands with private sector development projects to create new mixed-use developments are underway or planned in Toronto.

renx.ca

The Peanut​

Jonathan Tinney, principal for multidisciplinary design firm SvN, kicked things off by talking about a project in conjunction with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and its Toronto Lands Corporation (TLC) real estate subsidiary in an area in the northeast part of the city known as The Peanut because of its distinctive shape.

The Peanut site north of Sheppard Avenue East, where Don Mills Road splits into two separate thoroughfares, is occupied by a high school, an elementary school, a community centre, a church and the 100,000-square-foot Peanut Plaza shopping centre.

The primary focus of the research was to come up with a new concept for the 23.5 acres occupied by the schools.

The goal was to: assess ways to deliver a modernized high school and elementary school facility; consolidate activities to free up sites for other uses; and incorporate additional private and not-for-profit uses on to a large and under-utilized site in proximity to transit and strong urban growth.

“We acknowledge the importance of our assets, not only from a school perspective but from a community perspective as well,” TLC interim chief executive officer Ryan Glenn said while discussing the board's overall portfolio. “The TDSB has a significant opportunity here to change the direction of the city's fabric for the future.”

The Peanut site design included: integrated school facilities with a redeveloped community centre; development opportunities for affordable housing, long-term care facilities or other uses on unencumbered lots, as well as air rights, to generate value; and adding a community plaza and central spine with animated edges that include commercial uses.

The next priorities are to: engage with the community and local political representatives; confirm internal TDSB and TLC program and site objectives; develop a vision and general concept for the Peanut site in collaboration with the other landowners; and then reach out to the local community again to refine the vision.

“We feel that some of the things that could potentially be tested here in The Peanut are things that could apply to school sites all across the city,” Tinney observed.

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View of the retail plaza portion at the northern-most part of the "Peanut site"

 

[Northern Light]

This block gets one brief mention in the Toronto Lands Corporation's 2024-2025 Annual Plan:

From: https://torontolandscorp.com/wp-con...2024-05-093-2024-25-TLC-Annual-Plan-FINAL.pdf

Can't find any record of the meetings held to date.

 

[1Ć0]

Some additional info here:

• From the TLCs policy and planning committee (from the March and May agenda + minutes) - https://torontolandscorp.com/pp-agendas-and-minutes/
  • March (pages 7 to 12) - https://torontolandscorp.com/wp-con...4-03-18-TLC-PP-Meetubg-Full-Public-Agenda.pdf
  • May (page 4 - motion was carried by board) - https://torontolandscorp.com/wp-con...4-05-16-TLC-PP-Meeting-Full-Public-Agenda.pdf
• And the report from ULI as of March 2024 - https://toronto.uli.org/getinvolved...-program-tap/2024-the-toronto-lands-corp-tap/

 

[Undead]

My old stomping grounds when I was growing up

It's odd that they included the Don Mills LRT.

From my experience living nearby, this area needs some pedestrian safety improvements.

Many kids jaywalk across Don Mills when going to and from the schools, especially at the blind curves. The NB curve past the church is the worst for this:

They should also get rid of the channelized left turns:

And finally, maybe consider regularizing the road network. Because people can't see the other direction of travel, it was a regular occurrence that someone would go the wrong way on the NB side: