Artist concept image of proposed College Park revitalization in downtown Toronto. (Image courtesy of GWLRA)
GWL Realty Advisors (GWLRA) has unveiled plans for what it is calling a once-in-a-generation revitalization of Toronto’s College Park. The proposal includes a heritage restoration with a three-tower mixed-use complex and reimagined outdoor spaces that transform the intersection of Yonge and College into a retail and cultural hub.
The proposal, developed with Toronto design firms Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA), ERA Architects and PUBLIC WORK, would align with the building’s centennial anniversary in 2030.
“Toronto has waited nearly 100 years to see a completed vision for College Park come to life,” stated Daniel Fama, vice-president of development at GWLRA. “We intend to restore and protect College Park’s heritage, while introducing 2,334 new housing units, a new hotel, new retail and entertainment space, and new public space that makes sense for the Toronto of today.”
College Park was conceived a century ago as a lavish 37-storey retail landmark—a “City Within a Block” rivaling New York’s Rockefeller Center. However, the Great Depression impacted the plans, so the grand vision of architects Ross & Macdonald had to be scaled back.
The proposal for the renewal of the property will not only break from the architectural practice known as “facadism” by retaining the full building, explains GWLRA, but it will also see Ross & Macdonald’s original design for the Yonge Street podium completed.
The proposal includes restoring the grandeur of the interior arcade, while also protecting and expanding The Carlu, the historic Art Deco event venue on the building’s seventh floor.
“College Park is one of the most significant works of architecture in Toronto,” stated Scott Weir, principal at ERA Architects, who also worked on the 2003 restoration of The Carlu. “For its whole existence, College Park has never reached its full potential. This project is our chance to get it right for the beginning of its second century.”
Three towers with 1920s design DNA
The proposal includes three mixed-use residential towers, designed by HPA, that compress the 100-year gap between old and new Toronto architecture. The towers’ design embraces the Art Deco heritage architecture of the podium, with sculptural elements that echo the verticality and setbacks of 1920s skyscrapers, subtly grounding the project in the city’s past.
To better connect the entry points and the subway to the public realm, HPA has designed a ribbon-like raised pathway that winds through College Park’s interior, linking College and Yonge to a glass-encased atrium and outdoor public space at the rear.
“Our starting point for the new College Park architecture was to embrace ERA’s heritage work and ideas from the early 1920s,” explained founding partner David Pontarini. “We intend to respect the building’s architectural DNA and bringing that up vertically into modern towers that contribute back to the skyline. If you squint, College Park would look like one development, built at one time.”
Landscape design: intensifying the public experience
GWLRA’s plan also considers how the public realm surrounding College Park can rise vertically. PUBLIC WORK, the studio known for innovative civic design projects like The Bentway, will reimagine the plaza with the addition of a new tree canopy, native plantings, a rolled landform, more topographic variation, and design elements inspired by The Carlu.
Higher up, rooftop gardens inspired by the 1920s idea of the architectural “urban mountain” would sit atop a series of plateaus, accessible from the sky lobby where the heritage building meets the new towers.
“College Park would mark a new metropolitan culture in Toronto by demonstrating how public and urban vitality can expand from the park and the street, inside and out, from the ground floor into the sky,” says PUBLIC WORK principal and co-founder Marc Ryan. “We want to rev up the intensity of the public experience with a stronger sense of urban forest and more access to light. The building would fully embrace the public realm.”
College Park 100: Fostering Public Dialogue
The neighbourhood surrounding College Park is one of the busiest and most densely populated areas in the city. GWLRA’s development application also includes improvements to streetscapes and transit access.
As part of the redevelopment, GWLRA has launched College Park 100, a website and event series that explores the site’s history while fostering public dialogue about its future. Insights from these discussions continue to inform the design process, with more programming planned throughout the pre-development and construction phases.
“Community engagement has been and will continue to be robust and essential,” stated Daniel Fama. “This is just the beginning of a multi-year, iterative process, and we encourage the public to stay involved and share feedback through College Park 100.”
GWLRA has formally submitted a development application to the City of Toronto. The proposal has yet to be approved, and a construction timeline has not been confirmed. Project updates, public events and opportunities to engage with the project, will be shared at www.collegepark100.com.
