[AlbertC]

155 Consumers Road

spotlightdevelopment.com

155 Consumers Road​

Status: Under Development
Location: 155 Consumers Road
Project Type: Purpose-Built Residential
Storeys: 35-50
Suites: 2,083
GFA: 175,698 ft
The project consists of 4 towers ranging in height from 35-50 storeys, with 31,213 ft of commercial space and 175,698 ft of residential space.

 

[ImmenselyMental]

The site is currently a single-storey commercial building with a surface parking lot:

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[Northern Light]

Let me bring forward the photo from Google above:

Now an aerial pic of the site:

Site Size is 15,811m2 or just shy of 1.6ha/ 4 acres

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Comments, its massing, so its difficult to say much except that it looks very crowded.

But, I can say the City is unlikely to, and should not accept the on-site park, as proposed. Aside from being silly small, its located in the north-east corner of the site, which means it will be in near perpetual darkness. That's a non-starter.

Any park here would logically go on the south side of the site.

Though I would prefer the City master plan the transformation of the area, pool developer contributions and City money and buy a meaningful park for the area of 2ha/5 acres rather than a series of useless, small ones.

 

[T-Bor]

This is actually more central in the area than I initially thought. Maybe a block from Sheppard, with a stop right at Brian Dr. A bit of a hike to Don Mills, but at a normal walk it's still only around 15 minutes

Plus, looks to be purpose-built rental, which is great

 

[Koops65]

Looks like 5 towers, not 4.

 

[ben.thebean1]

Here's a zoomed-out satellite for some more context:

Looks like 5 towers, not 4.

Correct. 5 towers which can't be much more than the minimum distance apart which is really unfortunate. As much as we need more housing, nobody wants to be standing in their kitchen and it look like the unit across from you is a couple feet away.

 

[xy3]

I see no reason Torontos next tallest supertall cant be built in this business park. No sfh opponents nearby, no Jesse Ketchum or shadowing/view cones etc

 

[Northern Light]

I see no reason Torontos next tallest supertall cant be built in this business park. No sfh opponents nearby, no Jesse Ketchum or shadowing/view cones etc

Sure, but why?

That is to say, supertalls drive up construction costs per ft2, the added density also means the need to upgrade area infrastructure, from sewer to water, to schools.

Growth isn't free.

I'd like to see a thoughtful plan for the entire area come out in front of further development, and I'd like to see the Sheppard subway extension actually open first......

 

[A Torontonian Now]

Sure, but why?

That is to say, supertalls drive up construction costs per ft2, the added density also means the need to upgrade area infrastructure, from sewer to water, to schools.

Growth isn't free.

I'd like to see a thoughtful plan for the entire area come out in front of further development, and I'd like to see the Sheppard subway extension actually open first......

I recently worked* in this area for two years, and it has a lot of potential. If enough of the old stock office buildings are retained, whether as office or as residential conversions, and the parking lots and low rise buildings infilled, it will have a nice diversity of architectural eras and styles, something missing from other suburban nodes like VMC.

The basics of a decent street-grid are in place, and the separation from any SFH neighbourhoods will make it easier to go big. I also appreciate that it is square in shape, as much suburban redevelopment follows arterials and therefore is linear - here we can build a true neighbourhood on two cartesian axes.

In theory, this is well-located as well, but there are horrible local traffic patterns that cause significant jams in the morning and evening rush. In terms of transit, it feels near to Don Mills Station, but in reality much of the area is a rather long hike, and an unpleasant desolate one crossing Highway 404.

Really, development should be constrained until the Sheppard subway is extended, but once it has been, this really will be a great location, being well connected to the regional road network, but finally accessible by transit.

But it really needs to be planned properly. I could not agree more with @Northern Light about the need to seize the opportunity for one or two large parks rather than a proliferation of small ones.

(*it was 2020 to 2022, so a lot of my time was work-from-home, but I was in the area with reasonable frequency)

 

[Northern Light]

In theory, this is well-located as well, but there are horrible local traffic patterns that cause significant jams in the morning and evening rush. In terms of transit, it feels near to Don Mills Station, but in reality much of the area is a rather long hike, and an unpleasant desolate one crossing Highway 404.

Wanted to focus in on this bit. There are plans, subject to MTO cooperation (always a big 'if') to improve the Sheppard crossing of 404. (Cycle Tracks and safer on/off ramps)

The traffic you noted which is really focused on both Highway crossings and their approaches (also Victoria Park and 401) would really be alleviated by additional crossings (not highway interchanges).

That's not currently contemplated, but it should be. It would be expensive, any new 401 crossing would need to reach York Mills, I'm not even sure where I'd run a new 404 crossing. But it really should be on the table with the kind of added density we're looking at here.

In theory, this might allow for a more thoughtful, calm(er) crossing at Victoria Park as well, with cycle tracks, and one less car lane per direction. But that can't be easily done without alternative routes.

 

[xy3]

A lot of the brutal traffic between VP and Fairview along sheppard is caused by no HOV lanes, lots of single occupants in cars, poorly designed onramps/offramps where cars are waiting for pedestrians (lots of slow walking students) to cross at surface level.

It was so bad I was in a bus that took half an hour to get from VP to the Don Mills subway station (this was around 6-7pm)

It badly needs express bus-only middle lanes and stops in the median like VIVA on highway 7 (stops only at VP, Consumers , Yorkland, Don Mills ) as well as pedestrian bridges over the onramps/offramps. Not to mention, a subway extension from Fairview to Kennedy/Sheppard Asap.