Proposed plan for condos at Clonmore and Queensbury. Image courtesy KFA Architects + Planners
Six single family homes on the north side of Clonmore Dr. at Queensbury Ave. will be torn down and replaced with a 120-unit condo development, according to a plan unveiled last week by developer Centreville Homes.
Centreville has acquired a 2.2 acre parcel of land on Clonmore by purchasing the properties from 168 – 182 Clonmore as well as the two vacant lots immediately east of the car and pet wash.
The proposed condo development is not related to the current construction plan at the Quarry, but is rather in addition to the 300 townhouses in the retail/mid-rise development to be built by Build Toronto and the 1450 high-rise units envisioned by Gerrard-Clonmore Developments (GCD).
These houses have been sold and are slated to be demolished for condos
Announced at CCQLD annual meeting
Word of this latest development in Birch Cliff came at last week’s annual general meeting of the Concerned Citizens of Quarry Lands Development (CCQLD).
The plan was described to members of the community by Amelia Bishop, an intermediate planner with KFA Architects and Planners,which has been retained by Centreville Homes.
Up to 120 stacked townhouses
Bishop told the meeting that Centreville plans to construct 1, 2 and 3 bedroom stacked townhouses ranging in size from 600 to 1,200 sq. ft.
Bishop described the size of the development (120 units) as a “worst case scenario”, explaining that they won’t know for some time if the bigger units will sell, leading to fewer units overall.
Developer attracted by depth of lots on north side of Clonmore. Image courtesy of KFA Architects + Planners
According to Bishop, Centreville was attracted to the Clonmore site by the 500-foot deep lots as well as the proximity to the townhouses being constructed by Build Toronto in the Quarry.
The target market is families, due to what Bishop described as the “dearth of family-oriented units in Toronto right now.”
“You see a lot of towers downtown and that’s not what everyone envisions for raising a family,” said Bishop. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I mean some people do raise a family in condos. But generally low-rise is more preferable especially with access to good amenity space.”
Bishop does not have an artist’s rendering of what the proposed development will look like but residents who are curious to check out other similar projects by KFA can look at Imagine Condos at St. Clair and Kennedy or Wallace Walk in the Junction.
Queensbury Avenue, where turning onto Clonmore is already a problem due to traffic
No rezoning application yet
Centreville Homes has not yet applied to the City of Toronto for the necessary rezoning permission. The zoning application will go to Scarborough Community Council, which will trigger a mandatory public meeting.
In an interview with Birch Cliff News, Bishop said that Centreville Homes wanted to inform the community of its plans in advance in order to determine if there was opposition to townhouses on the north side of Clonmore.
Bishop said she heard no opposition to the project at last week’s meeting although there were several questions regarding traffic.
“There were issues raised at the meeting but they were not in particular to the typology. My understanding is that there wasn’t a fundamental objection to townhomes.”
Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford
Crawford supports development “with reservations”
Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford was at last week’s meeting and said although he has concern about greater density, he is supporting the new condo project “with reservations”.
Crawford’s qualified support is strategic and speaks to the overall vision for the 19 acre Quarry site.
In an interview, Crawford said it is his hope that if there are two low-rise developments on either end of the Quarry it may convince GCD to see the light and abandon its highly unpopular plan for high-rise towers in the middle.
“And hopefully at some point GCD will start to see, I wouldn’t say the writing on the wall, but especially if these are selling and selling well, they’ll start to realize that this is where the market, the development, design and plans for this area should be going. It may guide them hopefully over a period of time to start looking at the potential of doing low-rise in that area.”
That being said, Crawford emphasized that there is a process that all new developments need to go through and that includes scrutiny by the planning department and Scarborough Community Council.
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Do you have an opinion on this story? Do you live near Queensbury Avenue and Clonmore? Please feel free to scroll down and leave a comment.
I just wanted to make clarify that the CCQLD asked KFA and Centreville to make the presentation at our AGM because we thought it important to keep our membership and the public informed of what is going on the community especially since it’s around the Quarry Lands. I want to be clear and say the board of the CCQLD has not in anyway condoned or admonished this plan because this is not in within our mandate. Our mandate is specific to the Quarry Lands. We just wanted to get the word out there this is what’s going on and to keep our membership informed.
If anyone has any comments, questions or concerns Amelia Bishop from KFA Architecture gave me her email address for you to direct your inquiries. She can be reached at abishop@kfarchitecture.com.
Please note any inquiries relating to schools in the area and school capacity etc. should be made to our Ward’s school board trustee Elizabeth Moyer and she can be reached at moyere@rogers.com.
Thanks Karen. There was so much information to impart in this story that I was planning to do a separate reaction story, which would include reaction from CCQLD.