Aspen Ridge has submitted plans for a 39-storey residential tower to advance the master-planned Crosstown Community at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East. The tower would be located within Block 6C — one of 17 blocks that make up the 60-acre mixed-use, transit-oriented development anchored by the Don Valley Station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line, which is slated to open this September.
The sprawling community, first approved in 2019, has begun to take shape in recent years with the completion of Crosstown Place, a nine-storey office building in Block 1, and the currently under-construction 39-, 34-, 32-, eight-, and three-storey One Crosstown Towers I, II, III, and The Crest in Block 12, and the 27-storey Generations Tower in Block 5A.
Other planned buildings that have yet to gain approvals include the Lily, a nine- and nine-storey complex in Block 9, 10 three-storey townhouse blocks in Block 8, and the new Don Mills Community Recreation Centre and Park in Block 3B. Once complete, the Crosstown Community project is slated to deliver a whopping 4,921 new housing units in buildings ranging from townhomes to mid- and high-rise towers containing residential, office, commercial, and retail space, as well as new roads, parks, and open spaces.
Plans submitted in late June support a Site Plan Control application for Block 6C, located in the south-central portion of the larger Crosstown site. The block would be bound by the new Steve Podborski Road in the north (named after a downhill skiing Olympian who trained in the Don Valley), Mike Palmateer Road in the west (named after a former Maple Leafs player), Eglinton Avenue East in the south, and Block 6B in the west, which is envisioned to host a townhome block and a 10-storey residential building. West of Block 6B is Block 6A, where a public park is planned.
The most recent use of the site lands was to provide surface-level parking for the expansive Celestica Campus that once occupied the Crosstown site. According to planning materials, the campus buildings housed the offices of IBM, the first of which was built in 1951, followed by the offices, manufacturing, and warehousing operations of Celestica Inc., after IBM relocated to Markham in the 1980s.
Planned to have 328,665 sq. ft of Gross Floor Area (GFA), the newly proposed tower in Block 6C would consist of a six-storey podium and 33-storey tower element containing 452 condo units. The building is being designed by CORE Architects, whose renderings depict a simple, sleek tower element with a striking podium defined by an undulating wave-like design and gold cladding.
844 Don Mills Road – Block 6C/CORE Architects, Aspen Ridge
At grade, plans show the residential lobby entrance fronting onto Steve Podborski Road with 4,208 sq. ft of indoor amenity space facing eastwards. An additional 3,853 sq. ft of indoor amenity space would be found on level seven, alongside 11,580 sq. ft of outdoor amenity space in the form of a large, landscaped terrace.
Residential units would be divided into one studio unit, 262 one-bedrooms, 153 two-bedrooms, and 36 three-bedrooms, and residents would have access to 175 parking spaces and 535 bicycle parking spaces across five levels of underground parking.
Those who will one day call Block 6C and the larger Crosstown Community home will benefit from living in one of the most vibrant, transit-oriented communities in the city. Not only would residents enjoy direct access to the forthcoming Eglinton Crosstown LRT line, which will link to 54 bus routes, three TTC subway stations, and three GO lines, but the surrounding area is well-established with amenities and community infrastructure. This includes day-to-day services, dining and retail options, cultural and entertainment destinations, and green spaces like Sunnybrook and Ernest Thompson Seton Park, Aga Khan Museum, and CF Shops at Don Mills.