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The Warden Station Neighbourhood Association is for anyone for whom Warden Station is their closest mass transit stop.  The area has undergone tremendous changes in the past decades and will continue to do so with much vacant parking and industrial land around.  The association is a "big tent" group intended for current residents and mutually beneficial collaboration with future residents.

The neighbourhood is at minimum the area defined by the city as the "Protected Major Transit Station Area" around the station with a current population of 6,662 .  The 2016 People and Jobs per Hectare (PPJ/Ha) density was 79 and is planned to grow to 225 PPJ/Ha.

Neighbourhood landmarks & planned development:

See neighbourhood map:  https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1013wWd-DD1Fn5nvLNEnmbPCugBuqNr8&usp=sharing

 

Upcoming events:

See public calendar:  https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=wardenneighbour%40gmail.com

Contact:

[email protected] or @WardenNeighbour or Mastodon

Noteable Neighbours

Notable Current Development activity 

(See map for a more comprehensive list.  Tip: deselect everything except the development section and look for the blue icons.)

Warden Station:  See Warden Station article for on-going rebuild of the station

West Scarborough Railpath:  Proposed for where Pilkington ends to the abandoned railroad line over St Clair to General Brock Public School.

673 Warden

"The proposed redevelopment consists of a new mixed-use building of 15-storeys with an additional floor of rooftop amenity space, containing retail space on the ground floor and 274 residential dwelling units. The total gross floor area (GFA) of the development is 18,965 sq. m., comprised of 18,759 sq. m. of residential GFA and 206 sq. m. of commercial GFA, resulting in a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 6.9 times the area of lot."

Official submission:  http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=pJ%2BcQ8LQpdL4m2NBvjyPiw%3D%3D

685 Warden

"The 2.63 ha site has been vacant for at least 17 years, and was previously home to a single-storey office/industrial building"

Official plans submitted to the city:  https://www.toronto.ca/685WardenAve

Developer's proposal:  https://685warden.com/

Unofficial student proposal for the site for a school project: 

Public notes from a neighbour of the city's Feb 16, 2022 consultation meeting:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/FriendsofOakridgePark/posts/4752841658096926/

Went to the OLT in July, 2022.

In 2007 there was a proposal to put a grocery store on the site:  http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/sc/bgrd/backgroundfile-4763.pdf

705 Warden

This is currently the north parking lot of the Warden station.  Official city site:  https://createto.ca/housingnow/housing/705-warden-ave/

Status:

"The development of 705 Warden Ave. has been awarded to Greenwin Holdings Inc. and KingSett Affordable Housing LP." "Planned to start in Q4 2022. ":  https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-of-toronto-and-createto-announce-development-partners-for-two-phase-one-housing-now-sites-to-build-much-needed-affordable-and-market-rental-housing/

Current plans:   681 residential homes, comprising 250 affordable rental homes and 431 market rent homes:  https://twitter.com/WardenNeighbour/status/1495026235067490310

New coverage:  https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/705-warden-avenue

743 Warden:  Currently an empty lot but pre-construction sales for a 9 storey, 202 unit condo:  https://livelinea.ca/ development of which will provide a $150K playground at General Brock Public School.

756 Warden:  Currently an empty lot at the southwest corner of Comstock & Warden.   This may now be cannabis production plant.   There was a plan for "a two-storey office and commercial building containing retail uses (Building A), as well as a recreational commercial ice hockey facility, with gym and office uses (Building B)."  http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=%2Bph1gzrV%2BhcJFFQ35%2BpOlA%3D%3D

772 Warden

Former industrial building being renovated, ""Uses may lean toward food service or ghost kitchens . . . or . . . child care"" : https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/toronto/article-discarded-by-industry-embraced-by-the-community/

Developer's proposal:  https://tasimpact.ca/project/772-warden-avenue/

3212 St Clair Av E (North East corner of Pharmacy & St Clair)

Currently an empty lot that was previously a gas station or auto repair facility and a cemetery prior to that.  (See Local Neighbourhood History.)   Current proposal is for "a new gas station with a retail building."  http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=zTBj7%2Bm4jE8YsrKiTHV1AA%3D%3D

In 2014 there was a proposal for "7, three-storey townhouse dwelling units, at a proposed height of 9.14 m. The seven townhouses would front onto St. Clair Avenue East with a proposed vehicular access from a rear 6 m wide private laneway off of Pharmacy Avenue. The seven residential parking spaces are proposed to be provided in integral at grade garages. The total gross floor area of the proposed development is 1451.15 m², which equates to a density of approximately 1.4 times the lot area."  http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2014.SC30.22

3431 St Clair Av E (South West corner of Birchmount & St Clair)

Currently an empty lot, a strip mall and a Beer Store.   Proposal is for a "16-storey mixed-use building on the subject lands, with residential, retail and amenity uses at grade. The remaining residential units and amenity uses would be located on floors 2 to 16. The proposed development would have 388 residential units and a retail space of 414 square metres, resulting in a total gross floor area of 28,215 square metres. The proposed development would have a Floor Space Index of 7.26. A total of 257 vehicular parking spaces and 413 bicycle parking spaces are proposed.":  http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=8CdxMUvXQzjKXo0iWNKCCw%3D%3D

Urban Toronto Article on the development:  https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/3431-st-clair-east

Developer's official website:  https://www.atriadevelopment.ca/communities/toronto/3431-st-clair

43 Upton:  Currently empty near the end of Upton Rd.   Proposal for new buildings that "will be further demised into 32 units averaging approximately 1,750 square feet each":   http://app.toronto.ca/AIC/index.do?folderRsn=LZTqICicduyyLPd%2BCXe9xg%3D%3D

Regent Heights Public School (555 Pharmacy Ave):  Proposal to demolish and rebuild on the east end of the playground:  https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/docs/Community_Planning_Partnerships/CapitalPriorities2021/6%20-%20Regent%20Heights%20Final_May21.pdf

General Brock Public School.  $150K for playground improvements, funded by Section 37 funds obtained in the development at 743 Warden.  This is so that the community will have a park that is accessible and that the public has outdoor activity and gathering spaces, play structures, soccer, basketball, seating areas and pathways and the school has shaded areas for outdoor learning

 

Local Neighbourhood History

Old streetnames:

Previous names for streets in our neighbourhood

  • Pitt was Eastbourne
  • St Bedes was Florens
  • Florens was Herron
  • Presley was Martin
  • Highgate was Thyra (& continued to St Clair)
  • Pennaire was Elliott
  • Donside was Adrien & Helena
  • Dolphine was Dorothy

Old Landfills

There are closed landfills at Warden & St Clair, Byng and Edge Parks.   All are deemed "low priority" sites. Toronto Star, Feb 3, 2011

Houses of Providence Farm

In 1910, "a farm on St Clair Avenue East was purchased for $22,000".  "The farm on St Clair Avenue East was known as the House of Providence Farm.   According to the House of Providence Annals, the farm had originally been owned by Mr. Herron, after whom Herron Avenue has been named.  It was under the direction of the Superior of the Houses of Providence and all the proceeds were used for the House.   The Annals state that the Houses of Providence farm was 'really the life of the institution.  It provided fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and milk . . . Before pensions were available to the Aged, products from the farm provided the main means of existence'

"Until the barn burned down November 6, 1955, the farm had a herd of 35 cattle including 20 milking cows which provided about half the total needs at the Houses of Providence.  Three to four hundred laying hens provided 150 dozen eggs a week (the House required 240 dozen eggs a week to feed the residents.)  Much of the land was devoted to vegetables including potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beets

"There was a Farm House which was used by the Sisters for holidays during the summer and an addition at the back was used to accommodate farm workers.  A separate house was provided for the foreman and his family"

- From https://www.chac.ca/documents/141/Toronto_Providence_Healthcare_2000.pdf

 

"Providence Farm . . . was about 225 acres, a strip along the west side of Warden Avenue, extending from the area now occupied by the Fairfax Road factories and W.A. Porter Collegiate, to St. Clair Avenue E (St. Clair Ave E cuts through the property), On the other side of St. Clair Avenue E it extended to the now Warden Woods apartment areas (Senior Citizens apartments and low rental housing) and included a portion of the area which is now familiarly referred to as ‘the bush’.

- From Providence Villa and Hospital

"Much of the lands was acquired by the Township of Scarborough in 1959 from the Sisters of St Joseph . . . Ownership by the Sisters largely protected the area"  - From Toronto's Ravines and Urban Forests by Jason Ramsay-Brown, John Lorimer & Co, 2020

See also other tidbits on the farm: 

Cemetery at Pharmacy and St Clair

There was a cemetery at the north east corner of Pharmacy and St Clair.  See Chalmers Presbyterian Cemetery

Warden Woods Mall

The current subdivision south of Deans, north of Roper and between Warden and the tracks use to be Warden Woods Mall which opened March 9, 1982 and closed in 2005.   The current Warden Hilltop Community Centre is built on part of the former Warden Woods Mall site..

Some historic photos of the area:

Neighbourhood videos

Other info:

 

 

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