Condos tend to displace a lot in Toronto. While the glut of new towers has practically erased areas like the club district, an unofficial car dealership district in the Corktown and Riverside neighbourhoods has found a way to continue on through fancy new residential developments with dealerships at street level.

The latest condo-car dealership combination proposed for the east side seeks to replace a Volkswagen automotive dealership showroom and an adjacent two-level parking garage at the northeast corner of Adelaide Street East and Berkeley Street, replacing it with a new mixed-use development.

While Volkswagen appears to be on the way out, AWIN Group of Dealerships' plans for 550 Adelaide East set out to integrate a dealership showroom concept into the base of a new 29-storey, Giannone Petricone Associates-designed tower containing 240 condominium units.

Aerial view looking west towards the proposed development. Rendering by Giannone Petricone Associates.

The dealership is depicted in renderings with signage for luxe Italian car brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo, the two companies sharing a 'brand group' under the broader umbrella of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

It appears the location would either replace or complement the existing Maserati/Alfa Romeo showroom space at the base of a condo at 88 Davenport, and work in conjunction with the nearby parts and service centre at 90 Eastern Avenue.

Over 1,000 square metres of commercial space would be dedicated to this 'light' dealership and service shop model, which will offer vehicle sales, limited repairs, and service pick-up and drop-offs.

However, the new space would mainly function as a showroom and transit point for cars, with most customers' vehicles to be shuttled to other locations for service and repairs after drop-off.

Looking west along Adelaide Street East to the base of the proposed development. Rendering by Giannone Petricone Associates.

The proposal includes 100 parking spaces across the ground floor and three underground levels, the lower two levels for residents and visitors and the upper two containing space for dealership parking and an area for detailing cars.

All of these cars would spill out from a garage ramp onto Berkeley Street, but it probably won't make much difference to traffic in the area, as it will replace a large multi-level garage serving the existing dealership.