Forgotten Toronto parking lot asking $11 million because it's primed for condos

Just north of York Mills Rd. sits a lonely, cracked, sun-scorched Toronto parking lot that has been empty for longer than most people have been waiting for the Eglinton Crosstown.

The property at 4155 Yonge St. — a 0.8-acre patch of asphalt wedged between some of Toronto's wealthiest enclaves — has spent the past decade in full development purgatory, which explains why the only long-term residents are weeds and possibly a raccoon or two who now legally qualify as common-law partners.

But this isn't just any empty parking lot, it's one of Toronto's longest-running neighbourhood drama cycles.

The ridge line in the background. 

When the first major proposal was tabled, a 14-plus-storey, 64-unit tower with a 1.5-storey mechanical penthouse, local residents were not pleased. 

An office building next door. 

But residents argued the tower would rise above the natural valley ridge, dwarf St. John's York Mills Anglican Church, Toronto's second-oldest church, threaten wildlife, greenery, natural heritage areas, traffic, flood risk, and, most importantly, destroy the neighbourhood vibe, which is the true hill Toronto residents will die on.

Trevor Jones of the Yonge Ridge Homeowners' Association summed it up bluntly: "If they do get permission to go above the ridge, all other commercial developers in that area will see that as the reins coming off." 

Neighbours also noted the building would have been triple the height of anything nearby.

Construction fence around the old parking lot. 

Soon the church wardens were sounding alarms, the councillor weighed in, neighbourhood associations mobilized ... basically everyone got involved.

And this wasn't even the first showdown: back in 2012, a previous 12-storey proposal was rejected by council and the OMB, and an amended 10-storey plan was also denied.

The City of Toronto notice board. 

After years of civic cage matches, developer Green City Communities Inc. returned with a much humbler offering: an 11-storey, 30-unit boutique condo designed by Richard Wengle offering "white glove concierge and valet services." 

Very aspirational. Very York Mills energy. Crucially, below the ridge line.

4155 Yonge Street site. 

The city accepted the revised plan in 2022, and for a brief moment it looked like 4155 Yonge St. might actually become more than a raccoon hangout. And then… nothing.

Despite the approvals, the marketing materials, the glossy renderings, and the promise of "refined sophistication," absolutely no one broke ground.

Today, the site remains exactly what it's been for years: a forgotten, sun-bleached rectangle with queen-sized weeds, cracked pavement, and the vibe of a post-apocalyptic Canadian Tire parking lot.

Some old debris and weeds on the proposed condo development site. 

Now the "as-is, where-is" lot has been listed for $10,900,000.

It's being marketed as a "signature development opportunity" with approvals in place for that 11-storey, 30-unit condo — about 88,800 square feet of residential gross floor area. 

Developers can build the approved condo or pivot to a rental-housing concept, whichever flavour of "Toronto needs more housing" they prefer.

But when condo sales are at an all-time low and construction costs continuing to rise, the only thing that's probably going to materialize here is a very expensive field of weeds.