Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

Willowdale Homes

Willowdale is a vibrant and cosmopolitan urban centre filled with luxury condos, custom built homes, shining office towers, a newly renovated shopping mall and theatre complex, an ultra modern civic centre, a world-class aquatic centre and a highly acclaimed centre for the performing arts.

Willowdale is also the home of the newly rebuilt Earl Haig Secondary School which has an outstanding academic reputation. Earl Haig is also highly regarded for its Claude Watson Arts program where students can major in either dance, drama, music or visual arts.

Willowdale was originally settled by Jacob Cummer, who immigrated to Canada from the United States in 1797. Cummer was a mill owner on the nearby Don River, a proprietor of a tinsmith shop on Yonge Street and a self trained doctor and veterinarian. Cummer was held in such high esteem by his neighbours that this area was originally known as Cummer’s Settlement.

David Gibson, a distinguished land surveyor, was another leader in this community. Like most of his neighbours, Gibson participated in the ill-fated Toronto Rebellion of 1837. He was thus charged with high treason and escaped to the United States were he found employment as the First Assistant Engineer on the building of the Erie Canal.

Gibson returned to his Yonge Street farm in 1851, after being pardoned for his role in the Rebellion. He then helped to establish the “Willow Dale” post office, named after the many willow trees that once graced this district. Members of the Gibson family were still living in Gibson House in the 1920’s when the residential subdivision of Willowdale began to take place.

The Gibson House, circa 1851, is still standing in its original location at 5172 Yonge Street and is now a historic museum.

Willowdale Real Estate Boundaries

Willowdale spans from Bayview Avenue west to Bathurst, and from Sheppard Avenue north to Finch. Homes in Willowdale can be found in Toronto Real Estate Districts C07 and C14.

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Woodbine Gardens Homes

Winding streets set within undulating ravines make Woodbine Gardens a lovely, tranquil place to call home. It is a quiet, child-safe neighbourhood, nicely tucked below bustling St. Clair and O’Connor, yet still convenient thanks to the various bus routes that connect to the Danforth subway line, and the DVP being merely minutes away.

Glenwood Crescent and Ferris Road are the main thoroughfares that link to a series of small cul-de-sacs and crescents, many with homes backing onto ravines that spill into Taylor Creek Park. Much like Parkview Hills to the north, properties can extend over 200 feet into the ravine, and some lots have elegantly terraced gardens.

Homes in Woodbine Gardens are predominantly detached and all-brick constructed, dating from the 1950s era. There is a plethora of bungalows, ranging from the traditional two-bedroom East York style, to sprawling Ranch and Cape Cod designs featuring three or four bedrooms. Another prevalent layout is the Four-Square 2-storey design with three bedrooms. Many of these resemble homes in Leaside, featuring Tudor details such as leaded pane windows.

Woodbine Gardens Real Estate Boundaries

Woodbine Gardens stretches from St. Clair Avenue East down to the Taylor Creek Park, and from Dawes Road west to O’Connor Drive. Woodbine Gardens homes can be found in Toronto Real Estate District E03.

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Four seasons complex: OMB ruling allows for taller tower than city had permitted

By Greg Macdonald - National Post

The Ontario Municipal Board has approved a $500-million project, including the city’s seventh-highest building, to be built in “the armpit of Yorkville.”

The 50-storey, 195-metre tower will be a part of the Four Seasons hotel-condo complex on Bay Street, between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue.

The complex will also contain a 24-storey residential building. The higher tower will consist of a 20-floor hotel, as well as condo units, for a total of 241 condos and 250 hotel rooms.

The ruling, which allows for a taller tower than that approved by Toronto city council, has been met with some local hostility.

Although a prominent community group reached an agreement with Bay-Yorkville Developments regarding the towers’ heights, other organizations are still opposed to the development.

Sheila Latham, director of the Save Yorkville Heritage Association, fears the project could “destroy” Yorkville.

“The way I see it, this new building being approved puts all low-rise buildings in the area under threat,” Ms. Latham said.

“It would ruin the area’s lowrise charm, sunshine, and its streetscape, which is on a human scale,” she said.

Ms. Latham charged that the city and community leaders had been “bought off” by the developers, Bay-Yorkville Developments, citing a $5.2-million donation to the community under Section 37 of the Planning Act. The funding will go to improve the local fire hall, library and the yard at Jesse Ketchum Public School.

“What kind of rules have we got when someone with deep pockets can buy out the opposition?” she said.

The OMB decision, released this month, called the property “one of the largest underutilized properties remaining within the midtown area, an important mixed-use area that includes the high-rise character of the Bay-Bloor-Yonge-Street area.”

City council had approved 45- and 35-storey towers. The heights were changed to address controversy over shadows the towers will cast on the Ketchum schoolyard.

The new plans do little to fix this, according to Ms. Latham. “The schoolyard is only going to get half an hour more sunshine a day,” she said. “This is a terrible precedent and an outrageous building. It sets the stage for more shadowing of public space.”

Despite the controversy, local city councillor Kyle Rae is pleased with the decision.

“Most of the neighbourhoods that opposed it were happy to see the tall tower get taller and the shorter tower get shorter. The new plans will reduce the shadow impact across the street,” he said.

“We’re talking about the armpit of Yorkville. This is a great location for a five-star hotel and is a great opportunity for the revitalization of the east side of Yorkville,” he said.

Mr. Rae said his office has already seen retailers’ proposals to move into the area because of the Four Seasons project.

“The community was [at the OMB hearing] and they agreed to it. The one group that did oppose it had their day in court.”

The project will not only benefit the immediate community but the city as a whole, according to a spokeswoman for Menkes Ltd., the managing partner in Bay-Yorkville Developments.

“The $500-million project will create great economic opportunity, including 1,600 construction jobs,” said Mimi Ing.

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