Crosstown LRT spurs massive redevelopment proposal

The owners of a sprawling industrial complex at the corner of Eglinton and Don Mills are hoping to redevelop part of the site into a new residential area of high rise towers and townhomes, office, and retail space in time for the arrival of the Crosstown LRT.

According to Urban Toronto, the Celestica electronics property is a little over a quarter occupied with buildings, the rest of it composed of massive amounts of surface parking and blank storage areas.

The property was originally developed in 1951 as the headquarters of IBM Canada. The computer company spun-off its electronics manufacturing division in 1994, forming Celestica, the current owners of the site. The company makes telecommunications equipment, aerospace products, and navigation systems.

Celestica would not move as part of the current proposal, though its current buildings would be demolished. Large swaths of unused land, much of it surface parking, will be given over to a small village of roughly eight mixed-use buildings, a community centre, and hockey arena. Several new streets, including a short westward extension of Wynford Drive, are shown in the preliminary report due to go before the city's Planning and Growth Management Committee tomorrow.

The electronics company would re-locate to a new facility on the east side of the property and the remainder of the land re-zoned for mixed use.

An underground stop on the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT is due to be built on the southwest corner of Eglinton and Don Mills, potentially increasing the value of Celestica's fallow land.

What do you think of the proposal?

QUICK STATS:

Max height: 40 storeys
High rise buildings: 8
Residential units (all 3+ bedroom): 2,897 (294,950 square metres)
Office space: 77,136 sq. m.
Retail space: 9,105 sq. m.
Institutional space: 7,089 sq. m.
Parking: 930 vehicles

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.