A developer is touting two soon-to-be-built towers in North York's downtown core as the latest innovation in urban planning.
The Hullmark Centre "is the area's newest development and marks a new way of thinking for Toronto's outlying areas," said a statement from Kirkor Architects and Planners, an architectural and planning firm specializing in urban intensification."The two-tower residential/commercial site is situated above two subway lines at the corner of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue and includes a 35-storey residential tower atop an 11-storey office building, with a grand public plaza and an environmental graphics wall for entertainment and community use."The centre was developed from the site's existing shopping centre.Construction will begin next year and is scheduled for completion in 2012.Kirkor principal Clifford Korman said Canada's urban centres need to be transformed from single-family subdivisions to developments accommodating greater densities, smart growth technology and improved public transportation."Nodes, corridors, transit locations are vital to sustainable development, whether they occur in the heart of the city or in the suburban outskirts," he said.Hullark's towers will house 700 residential units on four acres, The same number of residents living in single-family homes would eat up 125 acres, Korman noted.