We at the Toronto Star’s NewInHomes.com are usually reporting on the future of the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding cities and towns, but we also like to take a peek into the past at what could have been in our beloved Toronto.
This week, we’re presenting a development that was officially proposed in 1992, but ideas for the site first sprouted in 1987. The site is at Yonge Street and Highway 401, where there were 24 acres of practically open land just waiting to be developed. This land became accessible with the completion of the 401 in the 1950s and the extension of the Yonge subway line in the 1970s. With more traffic to the north, the land became more desirable.
The company behind the acquisition of the land was Westnor Ltd., with Galen Weston at the reins via Wittington Investments. Thus, the name for the future master-planned community was to be Wittington Place. In 1989, they held a competition, asking architects to design a community that would occupy the 24 acres. Some mandatory details for each proposal included a 20,000-seat arena, which would aid Toronto’s bid for the 1996 Olympics and also serve as a future home for the Toronto Maple Leafs, three million square feet of office space, one million square feet of condominiums, a 400-600-room hotel, and 300,000 square feet of retail.
There were a few impressive proposals, one by Moshe Safdie included tall arched buildings, a high-rise, and rows of townhomes, all of which seem to be inspired by an art-deco styling. Arthur Erickson’s proposal called for a 57-storey high-rise, with surrounding mid- and low-rises. The design of the One World Trade Center greatly resembles Erickson’s rendering. A proposal by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut called for a 50-storey tower that would stand behind three lower ones, which would line Yonge Street.
After all the effort of attempting to find a suitable design, no winner was chosen. The official proposal submission was based on KPMB’s plan for the site, but the plan called for many changes to be made to the existing infrastructure before they could even begin construction. In order for Wittington Place to come to be, the city would have had to add a new lane to the 401, widen the Don Valley Bridge, build an underground interchange between the 401 and a new street, widen Yonge, and add a subway stop. Basically, it wasn’t worth the price of the preparation to follow through with development plans.
In 1995, the proposal was revised, planning for 2.3 million square feet of residential space and 500,000 square feet of commercial space; not nearly as ambitious as previous plans, but more cost-effective. The area isn’t known as Wittington Place, but it is home to a number of condos and townhomes, including the Avonshire community by Tridel, which is an expansive and ongoing project.
Big tip of the hat to Unbuilt Toronto 2, a book by Mark Osbaldeston, for information.
