New plans are in the works for 281 through 301 Front Street East, envisioning a pair of mixed-use residential towers rather than the previously planned data-centre expansion. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty, the proposal within walking distance of the future Corktown station on Ontario Line 3, introduces 44- and 46-storey towers in an of central Toronto area zoned Reinvestment Area, permitting residential use.
On the southeast corner of Front and Parliament, the site is at the western edge of Corktown, and sits directly north of the TR2 data centre, a five-storey Equinix facility completed in 2016. The property was transferred through a land swap intended to consolidate First Parliament holdings to the west, a process later overtaken by the Province’s expropriation for Corktown station. Today, the parcel remains tied to the former data-centre program. The previous proposal for the site was for another four-storey/38.5m data centre, in that case designed by WZMH Architects and Arup for Equinix, planned before a new subway station was to be built virtually across the street.
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