Colonnade BridgePort proposes highrises of 14, 28 storeys near east-end Via Rail station

September 26, 2024

In a summary of the site plan control application for the project at 25 Pickering Pl., Colonnade BridgePort says it wants to build two towers of 14 and 28 storeys that will contain a total of 483 residential suites along with “associated underground parking” and ground-floor commercial space.

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The first two buildings at a proposed multi-phased development near the city’s main train terminal will be two highrises with nearly 500 residential units, the company behind the plan says in recently filed documents. In a summary of the site plan control application for the project at 25 Pickering Pl., Colonnade BridgePort says it wants to build two towers of 14 and 28 storeys that will contain a total of 483 residential suites along with “associated underground parking” and ground-floor commercial space. It’s the first stage in a development that’s expected to take years to fully build out on a five-acre site just east of the city’s main Via Rail station and the Tremblay LRT station. Colonnade BridgePort is partnering with Toronto-based investment firm Fiera Real Estate to turn the current industrial site into a “mixed-use, high-density community hub” that will eventually include up to 1,200 residential units in a mix of rental apartment highrises, condos and retirement residences, as well as retail space, parkland and possibly a hotel. Earlier this year, Colonnade BridgePort CEO Hugh Gorman said the real estate firm has started to tear down existing buildings on the property and remediate contaminated soil in anticipation of starting construction on the first phase early in 2025. Long-term plans call for buildings ranging from 12 to 30 storeys on the site. Colonnade BridgePort plans to subdivide the property in the hope of selling some lots to other developers that will build condos and seniors’ housing. In February, Gorman told OBJ the company has had “preliminary” talks with other firms, but noted condominium projects are a tough sell in the current economic climate. “The pro formas are just starting to work on the multi-family side,” he said then. “It’s not so great on the condo side yet. The economics aren’t there.” The Pickering Place project is one of two major projects Colonnade BridgePort has in its east-end development pipeline. Farther east, the company plans to build five residential highrises with upwards of 1,200 units on a four-acre parcel of land at 2000 City Park Dr., about 450 metres west of Blair Station and the Gloucester Centre mall. Colonnade BridgePort’s proposal calls for a “planned community” with more than a million square feet of residential space in five buildings of between 20 and 30 storeys that would be arranged around a central park.