Condo projects signal start of ‘development on steroids’ along Ontario Line

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Hoardings emblazoned with condo announcements are nothing new in the Canary District, the multi-tower mixed-use development area in Toronto’s West Don Lands that initially served as the Athletes’ Village for the 2015 Pan American Games. But on the western edge of the growing community, a different kind of message surrounds the future site of the Ontario Line’s Corktown station.

Bordered by Parliament Square Park and Front, Berkeley and Parliament streets, the 1.4-hectare city block will be part of a rapid-transit expansion designed to whisk passengers between the Ontario Science Centre and Exhibition Place in less than 30 minutes, according to recent signage. What isn’t explicitly conveyed is certainly implied: Residential and mixed-use development, as well as real-estate investment opportunities, are ramping up along the Ontario Line at least eight years before it opens.

“We’re going to see development on steroids,” says Matti Siemiatycki, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Department of Geography and Planning. Compared to the infamously delayed Eglinton Crosstown light rail line, he adds, the Ontario Line “is sparking real efforts to move at a quicker pace and at a bigger scale because the provincial government has made housing intensification around transit stations a key part of its political platform.”

A 2022 City of Toronto report on potential zoning changes to Major Transit Station Areas (MTSAs) across the GTA bears this out. Density targets surrounding Ontario Line stations consistently surpass those along the Eglinton LRT, with the former averaging 310 residents and jobs per hectare, and the latter 195.

Since the Ontario Line was announced by the Government of Ontario on April 10, 2019, data compiled by the real-estate brokerage Strata.ca reveals that the average prices being fetched for condo units in many of the neighbourhoods along the 15-station route are outpacing the 21-percent price increases across Toronto as a whole. In East York’s O’Connor-Parkview, for instance, prices have jumped by nearly 75 percent — from $369,000 to $639,000 — between April 2019 and July 2023. Two future stops north, Flemingdon Park has seen prices rise from $450,000 to $640,000. The trend continues further south in Leslieville-South Riverdale, where the current average of $940,000 represents a 31-percent increase.

“This uplift in value doesn’t just happen the day new transit opens, it happens all along the planning and delivery process as people speculate about which project is going to get prioritized and ultimately approved and funded,” Siemiatycki says. “The same applies to landholders, who start to consider the most opportune times for them to redevelop. It’s important to separate the public policy goal, which is to get as much housing built as quickly as possible, from the investor and financial perspective, which can follow a more extended timeline.”

The opportune time for development certainly seems to have arrived along the oft-delayed Eglinton Crosstown, so much so that developer Aspen Ridge Homes named one of its new master-planned communities after the 19-kilometre east-west line. Ultimately encompassing 18 mid- and high-rise condo buildings and 30 townhome blocks — as well as a dedicated entrance to the new Science Centre station that will serve both the Eglinton and Ontario lines — Crosstown’s first three phases have already sold out.

The 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line route meanwhile is already seeing its share of residential development, with the five new condo projects that follow now on sale to the public.

The Lofthouse Condos

Address: 794 Gerrard St. E. at Logan Avenue

Developer: Grid Developments

Ontario Line station: Gerrard, one block east at Carlaw Avenue

Vitals: Spread over six storeys, 58 one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, some with dens, range from 708 to 1,145 square feet.

Amenities: A north-facing rooftop outdoor space includes a yoga studio.

Setting: Where the dim sum palaces of East Chinatown meet the northern outskirts of hip Leslieville.

Starting price: High $700,000s

More information: thelofthouse.ca

Canary House Condos

Address: 475 Front St. E., one block west of Bayview Avenue

Developers: Dream Development, Kilmer Group and Tricon Capital Group

Ontario Line stations: East Harbour and Corktown, about four blocks to the east and west, respectively

Vitals: This balcony-ringed 13-storey building is home to 206 suites ranging from 461-square-foot one-bedrooms to 935-square-foot three-bedrooms with dens.

Amenities: Gym, library, co-working lounge, multipurpose studio, private dining terrace, pet spa, garden terrace with barbecue lounge, firepit and zen garden, and party, games and screening rooms

Setting: In the middle of the 35-acre Canary District, which is also home to the 82,000-square-foot Cooper Koo Family YMCA, George Brown College’s first student residence, Front Street Promenade and 18-acre Corktown Common park.

Starting price: High $700,000s

More information: canarydistrict.com/canary-house/

The Essery Condos

Address: 109 Niagara St., one block west of Bathurst

Developer: Aspen Ridge

Ontario Line station: King-Bathurst, two blocks north

Vitals: The four-storey former site of William Essery’s 19th-century manufacturing company is being reborn as a 51-unit boutique condo with one-, two- and three-bedroom suites ranging from 900 to 2,100 square feet.

Amenities: The ground floor is home to a multi-use fitness space, while a roomy outdoor terrace covers the rooftop.

Setting: Steps from the stylish shopping, dining and nightlife of the condo-lined King West strip.

Starting price: $1.5 million

More information: theessery.com

Biblio Lofts

Address: 759 Queen St. E., two blocks east of Broadview Avenue

Developer: NVSBLE Development

Ontario Line station: Riverdale-Leslieville, one block east

Vitals: Seven storeys tall with 10 one-plus-den units and 20 two- and three-bedrooms ranging from 578 to nearly 1,600 square feet.

Amenities: A communal rooftop terrace has lounging and dining areas, while a private gym is located on the ground level.

Setting: In the heart of Leslieville’s toniest strip of boutiques, restaurants and nightlife.

Starting price: $700,000s

More information: bibliolofts.ca

Metro Park Condos

Address: 25 St Dennis Dr., two blocks east of Don Mills Road

Developer: DBS Developments

Ontario Line stations: Flemington Park two blocks south, or Science Centre three blocks north

Vitals: Topping out at 37 storeys, Metro Park’s 552 suites are spread over two towers and two blocks of three-storey townhomes. One-, two- and three-bedroom configurations range from 485 to more than 1,500 square feet.

Amenities: A wraparound amenity terrace on the seventh floor of the main tower will be home to plush lounge seating, an outdoor yoga studio and barbecues. Inside, a party room, games room, screening room, fitness facility and co-working lounge round out the 25,000 square feet of amenities.

Setting: In the heart of the master-planned Flemingdon Park community, which was mostly built in the 1960s and early ’70s.

Starting price: Mid-$800,000s

More information: condosatmetropark.com