CITY COUNCIL WILL likely approve a largely residential development that will replace Willowdale Plaza with two new towers near Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue, according to Coun. John Filion.
Hullmark Centre Inc., a subsidiary of Tridel, plans to build two largely residential towers, at 35 and 44 storeys each, with a connecting five-storey building in between. Filion said the development is one of the better planned in the area.
“Yes, Ithink it will be approved,” Filion said. “Apart from the usual concerns about the traffic, most people thought it was a fairly good development as far as developments go.”
But Willowdale schools are overcrowded, and school board Trustee Mari Rutka said this issue is often overlooked when developments are proposed.
“Every year, we get people who say, ‘Oh my God, I bought a condo so that we could be near Earl Haig, and I can’t send my child there even though it’s just across the street,’” she said. “And it’s true, they can’t.”
New condominium buyers in the area are warned in contracts that their children will likely have to be bussed out to other areas to attend school. But Rutka said often those buyers don’t read their contracts very carefully.
“It is most definitely a challenge, and we are acutely aware of it. We hope that we can cope with it all.”
Hullmark made an application to amend the zoning bylaw and official plan to develop the site three years ago.
The city demanded the application be revised to include commercial and office space within the development, and shorter towers, at 35 and 44 storeys, Filion said. Community council wanted to ensure that offices and retail space be included in the development.
Earlier this year, the applicant submitted an offer to settle. That offer was approved at community council last month and was scheduled to go to city council May 25.
The offer to settle stipulates that office space be included in the development, with a direct connection to the subway system below. And the developer will include a retail component that would run along the street level.
Hullmark’s settlement also included that they would give much-needed parkland on Finch Avenue over to the city.
Filion said that traffic concerns have also been addressed, with plans to install bicycle racks and short-term rental car outlets close by. He hopes traffic will be mitigated by the development’s location as well.
“It’s right on top of two subway lines,” he said. “I guess you have to be optimistic and hope that people will buy there because they plan to use public transportation.
Marion Lick, president of the Willowdale Central Ratepayers Association, said she will miss the Willowdale Plaza’s accessibility but that the development’s location and the promise of more retail is a small victory. Still, she said as each new tower is built she can’t help but notice.
“It’s been quite a change, it’s been quite a change,” Lick said. “Some of us have lost sun, but that’s neither here nor there. The sun goes down around three o’clock for me. That’s sort of too bad.”