New in homes: The second coming of Weston Village
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When it’s completed, Castlepoint Numa’s anchor property in Weston Village will have two features unlike any other in a Toronto condominium development.
One is a worship space and performance hall with seating for 400, whose matchstick and glass-wall design is partly inspired by the award winning Writers Theatre on Chicago’s North Shore. The other is a regulation-size gymnasium for team sports and other athletic activities. Both will be housed inside a three-storey podium for two reticulated towers rising 45 and 50 storeys over the Humber River.
The performance hall and gymnasium are part of a planned Centre for the Community, expected to cost upwards of $30 million, whose purpose is to engage the area’s underserved youth and help with the renewal of Weston Village.
“Accommodating a community centre within the podium presents structural challenges,” says Farzi Jalali, director of planning and development at Castlepoint Numa Inc. “But we needed to make a relevant contribution with a development partner who is ready to invest.”
Castlepoint Numa’s partner in its Weston Park development, located at 1871-1885 Weston Rd. at Lawrence Avenue West, is the Weston Park Baptist Church, who will share in future profits.
“The inclusion of a regulation-size gymnasium is central to making Weston a place where young people want to belong,” says church deacon John Frogley-Rawson. “Youth sports leagues won’t come into the community without it.”
The Centre for the Community will also include public conference rooms, church offices, a kitchen and a food bank.
The point, according to Castlepoint Numa, is to address a deficit of public facilities in Weston Village, situated between the Humber River and Toronto’s rail corridor, an area that will see the arrival of more than 4,400 new homes spread across 10 residential towers over the next five years.
“We’re at the beginning of a huge transformation and it’s exciting to watch,” says Masum Hossain, chair of the Weston Village BIA, which represents 160 stores, restaurants and professional offices, some of which have been operating here for multiple generations.
The linchpin holding together Weston Village’s revitalization is the UP Express (UPX), providing a 14-minute rail link to downtown Toronto and Union Station. But there’s also Weston Lions Park with year-round sports facilities, the Humber River Trail with 13 kilometres of bike paths and proximity to Highways 400 and 401. All these factors have helped pull in other leading developers like BSäR Group, Devron Developments, Options for Homes and Dream Unlimited, a TSX-listed firm behind a number of REITs.
“We need more development that takes advantage of Weston’s accessibility and provides opportunities for new housing,” says Tyler Hershberg, principal at BSäR Group, whose company has been approved to build a 45-storey tower with about 580 units at 1821 Weston Rd.
He noted that Castlepoint Numa has a “genuine passion” for the area, but declined to comment about specific community benefits BSäR plans to deliver in Weston Village.
Castlepoint Numa hopes to make the single biggest contribution to the renewal of Weston Village with a mixed-use community of four towers within a five-minute walk of the UP Express. Two at Weston Park, the area’s future social nucleus, are expected to receive planning approval later this year. Another two across the street at 1800 and 1830 Weston Rd., will be 40 and 45 storeys in height with six-storey podiums designed with agora-style archways to capture the feel of a midrise neighbourhood.
The combined applications add up to 1,937 homes, or 1.37 million square feet of residential space, along with 56,500 square feet of mixed-use and community space.
“To bring critical mass to the development, it’s important to build on both sides of the street,” says Jalali of Castlepoint Numa, whose previous projects include Auto BLDG, home to Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and the curvilinear L Tower on The Esplanade.
In advance of construction, Castlepoint Numa has moved social and community organizations into its properties at subsidized rents, among them Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI) and the Toronto Youth Innovation Foundation. There’s also an artist-in-residency program, micro-enterprises such as Jonny Reps Gym and a COSTI employment centre for new immigrants.
So far the company has contributed more than $750,000 to these community activations, including renovations and a restaurant-quality catering kitchen for youth charity Frontlines. “We saw an opportunity for immediate transformation, which we hope enriches the social fabric of Weston Village and pays dividends in the future,” says Harley Valentine, partner at Castlepoint Numa. “You don’t improve a community by putting construction fences up and leaving your properties vacant.”
The social and community organizations Castlepoint Numa has taken under its wing will be offered space once the project is completed; construction is expected to begin in 2024.
Hossain of the BIA envisions Weston Village becoming a “historic destination with a modern feel” like Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market and Distillery District. “We’d like to see quality retail, specialty services and upmarket restaurants,” says Hossain.
For the Weston Village master plan to succeed the way the redevelopment of similarly challenged Regent Park did in Toronto’s east end, it needs input from all stakeholders, including a significant population of residents who live in subsidized housing.
But in view of the fact that Weston Village already has one of the highest concentrations of subsidized dwellings in Toronto, Castlepoint has no plans to introduce more affordable housing.
Still, Tom Costantino, chair of the Weston Village Residents’ Association (WVRA), believes the incoming projects will bring much-needed change to Weston. “We’ve had several positive meetings with other developers to discuss main-floor activations and community spaces.” Two amenities Costantino would like to see added include a daycare and a respite centre for seniors.
Frogley-Rawson also believes the developer is honouring the needs of the neighbourhood. “Castlepoint Numa has adopted the church’s vision,” he says, noting the church has been a full participant in the decision-making process.
“In more than aspects of faith, the Weston Park Baptist Church has been a rudder in this community for nearly 100 years,” says Valentine from Castlepoint Numa. “We see a role for us continuing that tradition.”
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