The dated Cloverdale Mall which our parents loved is being updated, modernized and being brought up to the 21st century.
B.C. developer QuadReal Property Group, who also own the Campbell’s Soup property in New Toronto, has released details of a ‘multi-building, mixed-use development’ to take the place of the largely one-storey shopping centre near Highway 427 and Bloor St. W.
The developer on August 6 released its plan for the mall and the 12-hectare site as it applies to the City of Toronto for an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) and Zoning Bylaw Amendments (ZBA).
QuadReal plans a “mixed-use, multi-tower, complete community to blossom around a new retail high street.” A large section of the property has remained vacant since Target left Canada.
The company dedicated space in the mall ‘Cloverdale Common,’ for community activities and public information about the proposal. They have also had three open houses over a 16-month period for residents to offer input into the massive project.
Cloverdale’s footprint at 250 the East Mall will be upgraded to a number of condo towers offering a whopping 334,000 square metres of living space between 4,050 units, with ample green space interspersed in between them, along with a food market building, community centre and more.
The residential structures range from between 24 and 48 storeys, and will feature a new “retail main street” that will have storefronts and cafes at ground level. There will be six-storey podiums that help form a street wall along a new retail-lined road running through the property.
This ‘retail main street’ and proposed ‘Cloverdale Square’ will serve as a new retail heart of the community. A food-oriented market building features outdoor patios and terraces, with a multi-purpose arts and culture-focused community hub positioned on the upper level.
The centre of the site will be the glazed glass-covered Cloverdale Square, which will increase the retail space of the project to 26,000 square metres and offer even more residences in low-and mid-rise buildings.
The developer says a minimum of 40 percent of the units would be designated as family-sized layouts.
There will be about 10 residential towers, which will decrease in height from south to north and west to east, with the tallest buildings acting as a buffer from the Highway 427 corridor.
A separate rezoning application has been submitted by QuadReal for a triangular site east of the mall at 2 East Mall Crescent, in which they are seeking to demolish a gas station and Beer Store, which will be replaced by a 27-storey residential tower and a six-storey mid-rise atop a connected base building. The 450-unit development will include 200 m² of retail space.
The amenities of the site will be connected by a series of roadways and pedestrian or cyclist paths, and there will be multiple levels of both underground and above-ground parking, a neighbourhood park, rooftop greenery and court yards.