Yorkson Neighbourhood Update

Back in May, I posted about the Yorkson Creek development along 208th Street and 80th Avenue and how as the project has been built-out, the height of the apartments have increased from the originally proposed 4 storeys to 6 storey while the total number of units has actually decreased. It goes to show you that just because something is taller, it doesn’t mean that it has more density. In fact the project will see a decrease from the originally planned 1,474 units to 1,244 residential units as currently proposed. This is due in part to the replacement of some of the proposed 4-storey apartment buildings with townhouses, but also because of the increase in size of the individual apartment units.

Overall Proposed Site Plan

Adding over 1,244 units to Yorkson in Willoughby will still create a fairly compact and walkable area which should tie nicely in with the Yorkson Area High Street. I have to give the developer of Yorkson Creek credit for putting over 90% of the parking in underground or covered parking as this will contribute substantially to the walkability of the area. Unfortunately the developer of the High Street chose to put the majority of its parking in surface parking lots. I think that it’s high time that the Township require underground parking for commercial developments as surface parking is the number one killer of walkability and creates a poor public realm.

Last night there was a public hearing for the proposed changes to the Yorkson Creek development including some renderings of the proposed apartments and townhouses, a sampling of which is below.

Rendering of Proposed Apartments

Rendering of Proposed Townhouses