Development at 175 Wynford Drive
This development has a long history. The previous owner had planned to retain most of the existing 6-story hotel, and they planned to add 2 towers, one 36-storey and one 30-storey. The existing conference space connected to the hotel was to be demolished to make a new entrance area connecting the new towers to the hotel. The Wynford-Concorde committee of DMRI worked with that owner to come to this plan which also included some park space and a public children’s playground. Unfortunately, the owner died before construction of this development began. His wife subsequently sold the land and the new owner has a very different plan.
The new plan would demolish both the existing hotel and conference space. It would include four mixed-use tall buildings ranging from 45 to 54-storeys In height. In addition, the plan calls for a minimum of 10,082sqm of non-residential gross floor area for a hotel, retail uses and a childcare centre. A new hotel would be located within the podium of the 54-storey tower. A new signalized intersection is proposed on Wynford Drive at the location of the existing driveway.
Our initial reaction is that the height and density are excessive and there is no park designation. This is contrary to the City’s Official Plan policies and the Parkland Strategy, and fails to meet the need to create a complete community. A park is essential in a development of this size. The applicant is required to address the lack of on-site parkland and identify a suitable location and size of the park in a future re-submission.
In addition, all access is proposed to be from Wynford at an already busy location adding considerable traffic to Wynford Drive.
A virtual community consultation meeting was held on March 4, 2021 and there was a great deal of community opposition to this proposal.
We will keep you updated for any future developments on this project.
Article courtesy of:
“Don Mills Residents Inc”