Queensway Corridor filling need for more living space

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New rental units are targeted at young families and professionals looking to escape their small units downtown

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The Queensway Corridor in Etobicoke is an emergent hub for a growing, but underserved, cohort of the GTA’s rental pool.

They were top of mind for Dunpar Homes when it broke ground on 26 Earlington — a 10-storey, 141-unit rental building with 10 additional back-to-back townhomes — on August 20.

“It’s a great to finally break ground on this much-needed purpose-built rental project, which we expect will be eagerly sought-after by young families and young professionals looking to escape their small units downtown,” says Luke Johnston, EVP of development and general council at Dunpar Homes.

“Some of the features our renters will appreciate are high ceilings, a larger square-footage than you would get in a typical unit; there are terraces —the south-facing ones will have a great view — and there are other building amenities, too, that will foster the type of environment they’re looking.”

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Leader Lane Developments is another developer heeding untapped rental demand from underserved families and young professionals growing weary of downtown Toronto’s smaller apartment sizes.

It recently broke ground on 230 Royal York, a nine-storey, 60-unit tower, which, in addition to having grade-level retail, will promote health and wellbeing by opting for mass timber construction.

The rooftop is its crown jewel amenity, where residents can relax, even meditate, or use the co-working space.

“Our market surveys tell us the same thing: the marketplace lacks family-sized units [and] transitioning-family-sized units for couples and young families,” said Don Malnapaz, founding partner of Leader Lane Developments. “There’s also very little supply within the Queensway Corridor for purpose-built rentals.”

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 That’s precisely why Leader Lane has three other purpose-built rental projects in the area: 430 Royal York, an eight-storey, 60-unit, tower; 1156 The Queensway, which will be denser with 213 units across 11 storeys, and which comes with five stacked townhouses; and the nine-storey, 60-unit, 722 The Queensway.

Malnapaz says Leader Lane Developments identified the Queensway Corridor as an obvious neighbourhood to build these four rental projects because, teeming with green space and schools, families will flock there.

That — and the neighbourhood’s gentle-density approach to growth make it predictable, manageable and therefore attractive to families — is also why Leader Lane is confident it won’t have issues leasing the projects when they’re complete.

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“[Regarding the] maturation of The Queensway Corridor from Humber to Kipling, there’s an urban-oriented main street, and the rhythm of the store-frontage and lot-parcel fabrics is smaller because of The Queensway’s narrow right-of-way, making development intensity smaller,” Malnapaz said.

Of the four developments, 1156 The Queensway is particularly interesting because, as the largest, it will replace a Mercedes-Benz dealership on a lot that sits right at the Highway 427-Gardiner/QEW interchange, giving it  access to all major GTA highways, as well as Toronto’s Financial District.

The four Leader Lane projects also offers access to Royal York’s bi-directional cycling lanes, impelling the developer to both offer ample bicycle storage.

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The project is attractive to both young families and professionals, says Malnapaz.

“They’re used to having amenities within arm’s reach downtown, and where The Queensway Corridor comes in is that it offers many of the same downtown amenities and energy without the intensity,” he says.

Dunpar and Leader Lane are specifically building purpose-built rentals because young families need the security condo leases don’t provide.

“We’re targeting families for that reason,” Johnston said. “Young families are interested in having security of tenure — knowing they can start families in a home without the looming threat of eviction — while, because we’ll have reasonable annual rent increases, they’ll have the opportunity to save money towards their permanent family home.”

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