Project Highlights
2150 Lake Shore Boulevard West | Mr. Christie Site Redevelopment
2150 Lake Shore Blvd West is a proposed redevelopment of the 27.6 acre former Mr. Christie/Kraft Bakery site at by First Capital Realty and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The plan calls for 15 towers ranging in height from 22 to 71 storeys, several mid-rise buildings, a new Park Lawn GO Station, 41,900 m2 of commercial space, approximately 42,700 m2 of retail, entertainment, restaurants, and community-oriented shops, and an approximate 20,200 m2 hotel with affiliated commercial space. A total of 7,446 residential units are planned across the site.
The project features the team of architects Allies and Morrison working with Architect of Record Adamson Associates and heritage specialists ERA Architects, and landscape architecture by DTAH and Gross Max.
If there were any questions about whether First Capital Realty was serious about building something substantial and out-of-the-ordinary when they bought the 28-acre former Christie’s Cookies plant site at Park Lawn and Lake Shore in the Toronto borough of Etobicoke, any doubts would have been erased for observers of the world’s city-building scene when the company hired Allies and Morrison of London to lead the master planning with Toronto’s renowned Urban Strategies Inc..
Architects and Urban Planners, Allies and Morrison are best known internationally for their major transformation of the area around King’s Cross station in London, a derelict 60-acre site where regeneration started in 2007, and has since been embraced by Londoners, and continues to grow today. Now, First Capital has submitted its concept proposal to the City of Toronto for the Christie’s site, fashioned to create a mixed-use neighbourhood that could rank as a major destination within the GTA.
Historical Information
First Capital bought the site in 2016 (with a more recent purchase of the former Bank of Montreal location at 2194 Lake Shore) and has brought in the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board as a 50% partner. Beyond Allies and Morrison and Urban Strategies Inc., their design team includes Adamson Associates Architects as Architect of Record, ERA Architects covering heritage aspects, landscape architecture by DTAH of Toronto and Gross Max of Edinburgh, engineering by Arup, transportation planners Hatch and BA Group, and more.
Over the last three years, the proponents held two well-subscribed public meetings asking attendees for their input on what they’d like to see on the site and much of what is proposed in the ground realm at least is based on some of the wish lists.
Development Proposal
The scale of what has been proposed will take many off guard, with 15 towers proposed higher than 20 storeys tall, the tallest topping out at 71 storeys, or similar in height to the taller of the two Eau du Soleil towers now being completed nearby. Conversely, the depth of the neighbourhood amenities and services, and the degree of animation of the neighbourhood, will appeal to many living in the area now who are looking for a more complete, more cohesive area of the city to live in.
Across the Christie’s site, the plan calls for 41,900 m² of commercial office space, approximately 42,700 m² of retail, entertainment, restaurants, and community-oriented shops, and a 20,200 m² hotel with affiliated commercial space. A total of 7,446 residential units are proposed.
Public Spaces
Three public squares, a park, a central sheltered galleria lined with shops and restaurants, several pocket-sized places to gather, and pedestrian mews are proposed to be strung throughout the site. Bicycle lanes would be introduced, while new roads would handle increased car traffic to the area, including one “Relief” road extending from Park Lawn and the Gardiner eastbound off-ramp around most of the site to Lake Shore Boulevard, taking some volume of traffic off the Park Lawn and Lake Shore intersection.
On-street traffic through the site would be unnecessary for most residents, and parking garage entrances are planned for the periphery of the site from Park Lawn Road and the “Relief” road, with the garages connected below ground. The proponents also suggest rebuilding of the Gardiner access ramps to and from the east of the site to feed into the new “Relief” road, while Lake Shore would get four new traffic lights along it, slowing it to an urban speed in an area that cars tend to speed through now.
Transit & Access
A streetcar loop is proposed through the site, bringing vehicles up from Lake Shore Boulevard past the various squares to a new Park Lawn GO train station, before looping back to Lake Shore. Likely, 501 streetcars which currently turn around at the Humber Loop (approximately every second streetcar) would now turn around within the Christie’s site. Bus lay-bys are also proposed for the GO station which would also allow easy connections with the 66B Prince Edward bus.
The largest of three squares proposed within the site is Station Square, which leads pedestrians and streetcars to the intermodal transit hub from the south. The second largest square, dubbed Boulevard Square, fronts Lake Shore Blvd across from existing Humber Bay Shores towers, while another dubbed Entertainment Square, is planned closer to the east end of the site.
While the renderings are detailed, what is depicted in them remains conceptual at this point, indicative of the vision that First Capital has for the site, and not representing finished architectural designs for particular buildings. There are still several steps that the proposal must travel through before we see Site Plan Approval applications for any buildings: the first is likely a few years off still. The site has been zoned exclusively as employment land previously—there were 500 jobs at the Mr. Chrsitie’s Cookie factory when it closed in 2013—First Capital has been discussing with the City since its purchase regarding bringing more uses to the site.
A result was that in early summer 2019, the City Council and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) approved the conversion of 9.9 ha/24.5 acres of the Development Site into a Regeneration Area with the remaining 1.4 ha/3.5 acres, closest to the proposed GO station, retained as Employment Lands.
Totally density across the site is proposed at 7 million ft², 1 million ft² of retail, office and service-based uses, and 6 million ft² of residential. Parks and open community gathering areas represent over 25% of the site, while separation distances between towers typically far exceed the City’s 25-metre minimum.
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