Meant to attract density, Ontario’s Scarborough subway plan could scuttle 1,200-unit housing development

Thestar.com
Jan. 27, 2021

The Ontario government’s Scarborough subway plan could jeopardize a major new development in Toronto’s eastern suburb.

The $5.5 billion transit project is supposed to help encourage the construction of new residential and commercial developments in central Scarborough, an area long targeted by city officials for intensification. Adding density near future stations is also considered key to boosting ridership for the subway.

But the latest designs for the three-stop extension conflict with a proposed development at 140 Grangeway Ave., where a developer named Gates of Scarborough Inc. had planned to erect three residential towers between 31 and 53 storeys each. The development on what is currently a vacant lot just east of Progress Avenue and McCowan Road would have more than 1,200 dwelling units as well as ground-level retail.

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency overseeing the subway, says it needs to take possession of the property to build a new station and related infrastructure at Scarborough Centre. According to a recent decision from the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), Metrolinx intends to enter into expropriation discussions with Gates of Scarborough over the property by April 2023.

The transit agency says it also needs to take possession of an adjacent property on Grangeway, which Gates of Scarborough also owns and where it had planned a second stage of the development consisting of two towers of about 50 storeys each.

Images from city and Metrolinx reports show a proposed development that conflicts with the latest designs for the three-stop Scarborough subway extension.

Councillor Paul Ainslie (Ward 24, Scarborough-Guildwood) said if the Grangeway development doesn’t go ahead it would further undermine the case for the expensive subway extension, which the Ontario PC government hopes will be complete by 2030.

Ainslie has long opposed the subway as an expensive overbuild, and has instead supported plans for a Scarborough LRT that would be cheaper and serve more riders. He says the subway will be even more wasteful if the surrounding neighbourhoods aren’t built up enough to generate ridership.

“The one thing that subways are supposed to do is attract density, or at least that’s what Metrolinx and Doug Ford the premier has said. And here we have a subway station and one of the first things they want to do is stop the development around it. It’s kind of not what I envisioned for transit planning in the area,” said Ainslie, whose ward includes the Grangeway properties.

Ainslie said he hoped Metrolinx would be able to provide more information about the future of the site when the issue goes back to the LPAT in March. Through a lawyer, Gates of Scarborough declined to answer questions about the development.

The company submitted a pre-application proposal to the city for the Grangeway site in 2015, but last February Scarborough Community Council voted to put it on hold until Metrolinx confirmed its property requirements. The company has appealed to LPAT over the delay.

Metrolinx, which took responsibility for new Toronto subway projects in 2019, has pledged to closely integrate development into new transit projects. Through its transit-oriented communities (TOC) strategy, the agency hopes to strike deals with private developers who would construct transit infrastructure in exchange for the right to build their own residential or commercial projects near new stations.

As of yet, there is no such deal for the Grangeway property, but Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said the agency is “very open to a TOC development at this site.”

“Any development plan for sites with potential (TOC) opportunities will be determined in consultation with municipalities, communities and potential developers to ensure the right fit,” she said.

Aikins said “expropriation is only used as a backstop” and Metrolinx’s preference would be to negotiate a purchase agreement for the Grangeway land.

Although the Grangeway development would be a significant addition to the Scarborough skyline it’s not the only new build proposed along the subway extension, which would run from Line 2’s Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road. According to the city, there are 11 other active proposals representing more than 11,400 new residential units within one kilometre of the route.

That still falls short of the amount of development that could be required to make the subway extension a success. A 2013 benefits case analysis performed by Metrolinx determined about 20,000 condo units would have to be built near the subway to justify the project’s additional costs compared to the cheaper LRT.

Victor Gottwald, Toronto’s manager of Scarborough Community Planning said the city “continues to work closely with Metrolinx on this and all sites in Scarborough Centre” and “we anticipate some form of development” at the Grangeway site.