It’s been almost a decade since the “overbuild” of the Leaside LRT station became a Leaside Lifestory, which began with rumours of extra below-ground infrastructure designed to enable a tower overbuild. Now we are approaching the end of the planning approval stage; you might say we are reaching the end of the beginning. But construction is likely still a way off. City Council recently approved the zoning bylaw amendment (subject to some conditions) and the Ontario Land Tribunal gave an interim decision on the developer’s appeal, for a 35-storey tower over the Leaside station with a podium extending south on the two adjoining properties.
35 storeys? How did we get there? The City’s plan for development driven by the Eglinton Crosstown adopted by City Council in 2018 proposed eight storeys in lands at the Leaside station. However, a year later the Province overruled the City’s plan and designated the Bayview Focus Area at 20 to 35 storeys.
The Leaside station overbuild – update – Geoff Kettel, Leaside Life, June 1, 2024
Photo: Jortsmaster5000, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
