Earlier this month, the City of Toronto Planning Division held an open house community meeting to discuss and gather residents' feedback on the revised Galleria Mall development proposal.

The revised application proposes the construction of 8 towers (reduced from 11), with a maximum height of 35-storeys (reduced from 42), an increase in the proportion of family sized units to 50% and the elimination of bachelor suites, the integration of 150 affordable housing units on site, a new Wallace Emerson Community Centre (double the current size), and an enlarged Wallace Emerson Park. The applicant has also included 2 new bus bays on Dufferin St to provide dedicated spaces for TTC bus loading.

The applicants also presented a construction phasing plan which seeks to ensure that access to the community centre is maintained at all times, with the new community centre to be constructed as part of Phase 1. City staff would undertake a separate design and community consultation process for the proposed new community centre and park space to ensure that the functional requirements and the community's priorities are wholly integrated into the design.

Residents at the meeting provided feedback on the revised proposal and raised concerns regarding traffic congestion, local transit services, and the amount of density proposed in the revised application. The applicant will be working together with City staff to incorporate this feedback into their proposal and I will continue to advocate for our community's priorities and keep you informed as this review process continues.

The revised proposal will go before the City's Design Review Panel for additional comments and City Planning staff expect to present a final report in Spring 2018 to the Toronto and East York Community Council.

City Planning staff have posted the associated documents with this proposal online at www.aic.to/GalleriaMall and you can continue to share your comments by contacting the City Planner, David Driedger, at [email protected] and by emailing me at [email protected].

The owners of the Galleria Mall have recently submitted their formal development application to the City of Toronto. This is the start of a long process and there will be many opportunities to engage our community in the consultations and review of this application in the coming months.

The redevelopment of the Galleria Mall represents a generational city-building opportunity which must also deliver benefits to our community. The application has some good features including a larger and renewed community center, a bigger Wallace Emerson Park and complete streets. However, there are serious issues with the density, height, traffic and transit impacts that need attention, to name a few. I will continue to advocate for more affordable housing to be included on this site and for a development which fits with the scale and needs of our community.

The owners of the Galleria Mall will be hosting their 3rd Open House this Saturday October 15, 2016 from 11:30am to 3:30pm at the Galleria Mall (in the space located between the LCBO and bakery) and I encourage you to attend. It is important that the developers hear from you and that the priorities and concerns of our community are heard. You can click the photo to the left for a closer view of the meeting notice.

With the formal application now submitted, the City's formal and extensive application review process will begin in the near future, which will provide several further opportunities to provide input and feedback on this proposal. I will continue to keep you informed with updates about this important matter and encourage you to review previous updates regarding Galleria Mall, please click here.

On May 7, 2016, the developers Freed and ELAD Canada hosted a community open house at the Galleria Mall as part of an ongoing consultation and visioning process for the development of the site.  After having chosen not to proceed with the previously approved 2004 development plans for the site, they are consulting the surrounding community to understand what the desired community outcomes for this project are. 

At the open house, the developers shared conceptual renderings on what the site might look like. It is important to note that these renderings do not necessarily represent the final proposal and that no official proposal has yet been made. The developers however are aiming to submit a proposal to the City in the fall.

The developers are intending to retain the currently existing 225,000 square feet of retail space elsewhere within the redeveloped site. The current vision for the site will include a mix of both smaller and larger retail spaces to provide more inclusive opportunities for a variety of establishments to operate. The plan is to integrate retail into a mixed use neighbourhood containing residential uses and community space. The developers have proposed the Wallace Emerson Community Centre be rebuilt and to revitalize the current park space. 

Many of you took the time to share your concerns and questions about this project with me at the meeting, including the need for a community and gathering space to be an important part of any proposal. As the developer moves this project forward I will continue to advocate for your interests to ensure the community benefits from whatever proposal is submitted. 

If you have any questions or concerns, I encourage you to contact my office and the developer to share your thoughts. I will make sure that our community's interests remain a guiding priority as this visioning process moves forward.

In 2004 before I was elected to City Council, the previous owners of the Galleria Mall went through a re-zoning process, which was approved by the City to develop the Galleria Mall site. The initial plan for the site was to create a phased mixed-use commercial residential development containing 1,600 residential units in 6 buildings between 6 and 19 storeys in height as well as a block of twenty, 3 ½ story stacked townhouses on the site. More details on the initial approval can be found in this staff report. For whatever reason, the previous owners did not proceed with construction of the project. 

Fast forward to today and some of you may be aware that the Galleria Mall site was purchased in late 2015 by Freed Developments and ELAD Canada with an intention to develop the site. They have decided to not move forward with the previously approved plans and have indicated that they intent to submit a new development proposal. However, it is important to note that they do have the right to build what was previously approved. 

Due to the fact that the new developers intend to submit a new proposal for the site, community consultation is necessary. Given the large scale of the site and the need to provide the developers with a holistic understanding of the local community's needs/concerns, the developer is consulting local residents, businesses, and organizations before the formal consultation process required under the Planning Act. To date, many issues have been raised including the need to incorporate independent retail, a place for seniors to gather, affordability (both in terms of housing and retail), improved mobility and green space on the site, and the need to preserve the history of the site/neighbourhood. 

On January 23, the developers organized an open house to hear directly from local residents as to what they would like to see as part of the site's future development. The meeting was very well attended and residents provided a lot of feedback to the developers. They have also setup a website http://reimaginegalleria.com/ in order to update the community on their plans and to solicit feedback from residents. There will be another open house taking place on Saturday April 2 from 11am to 4pm. Once I have more details on this open house I will be sharing them with you. 

In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at anytime. 

Like many of you, I recently found out about the sale of the Galleria Mall property, located at the south-west corner of Dufferin Street and Dupont Street.

Over the past few years, many companies have been interested in purchasing the property but none have followed through until now.

In 2004, City Council granted approval for a proposed development consisting of a phased mixed-use commercial residential development containing 1,600 residential units in 6 buildings between 6 and 19 storeys in height as well as a block of twenty, 3 ½ story stacked townhouses on the site. More details can be found in this staff report.

If the developer would like to make any zoning changes to the approved plan, community consultation will be required.

Toronto's Official Plan also references the Galleria Mall lands in Official Plan Policy 213.

I have requested a meeting with who we believe to be the new property owners to find out what their plans are for the property. I will be updating the community once I have more information.

If you would like to receive direct updates on this issue or if you have any questions, please contact my office.