Boarded up storefront painted black next to urban sidewalk

Vacant retail space

In January 2026, the City’s Economic Development and Culture Department provided a briefing summary as a response to Councillor Matlow’s motion of March 26, 2025, on the topic of vacant storefronts. There were three areas identified for response in Councillor Matlow’s motion:

Architect's rendering of tall grey building towering over lower-rise buildings in surrounding neighbourhood against blue sky.

Pleasant Blvd. development

It seems the partners (Graywood and Kingsett Capital) for the approved 50-storey building at 29-39 Pleasant Blvd. have secured financing for this rental tower as the City has begun coordinating meetings for construction staging.

Semi-circular city hall council chamber with large screen showing presentation and desks and seating in semi-circle, with scattered audience members and one person at microphone. Desks are empty.

City Hall Zoning Consultation

On Thursday, February 12, a member of the DPRG board attended the city-wide Town Hall Consultation on Zoning for Protected/Major Transit Station Areas at City Hall. About 80 residents attended the session, coordinated by Gladki Planning Associates…

FoNTRA and FoSTRA logos

FoNTRA – FoSTRA meeting

The Federations of North and South Toronto Residents Associations held their annual planning forum on January 17. There was a full house of attendees, including two DPRG board members, who were both curious and unhappy about the direction of development in their neighbourhoods. 

3D aerial view of proposed tall buildings in low-rise residential area

Lawton Blvd. – Planning report now public

The City Planning Department has now released its report on this proposed development, which you can read online or download. From our perspective it is rather weak relative to the community’s concerns.

Highrise condo towering over other buildings with treed neighbourhoods and blue sky in background.

135 St Clair Ave. West

Proposed for the corner of Avenue Road and St. Clair Ave. W., this huge tower, both in height (49 floors) and in footprint, generating a massive 540,000 sf of space and 631 suites, towers over the adjacent condos to the east and west and the single family detached homes on Foxbar. 

Base of tall building with road in foreground

53-89 Lawton Blvd. update

This huge double tower development of 37 and 43 storeys is almost FOUR times taller than the closest apartment building to the north. Immediately across the road are single family homes. 

Bird's eye view of first 7-8 storeys of proposed 35 storey condo with surrounding streets

A 35-storey tower approved for 1220 Yonge (Yonge at Alcorn)

Remarkably, City Planning gave this enormous building a positive planning report and the application was recently approved by the Toronto East York Community Council. It is on a small site, located on this narrow, residential cul-de-sac. The building is now 60% taller than the earlier 22 storey application, at 35 floors.

orange construction crane against grey sky with highrise under construction in background

Development overview – April 2025

Like residents across the City, we continue to strongly object to Provincial legislation that does not permit municipalities to establish appropriate planning policies and regulations to ensure appropriate development.