Development pressure at Eglinton West and Avenue Road

yitz

The life-altering Eglinton Crosstown LRT is changing life in Forest Hill just as it is in Leaside. Terranata Developments wants to build a 15-storey condominium on a site right beside the new LRT station at the corner of Eglinton Ave. W. and Avenue Rd. The station will sit on the space now occupied by Mac’s and the Subway sandwich store. The highrise would take out the time-honoured and much-loved Yitz’s Deli plus two other properties which are now vacant. Together they make up the working name of the project — 346, 350, 352 and 356 Eglinton West. Two of those numbers — 352 and 356 — represent the former Oink Oink. Only Yitz’s is still occupied and doing business. A community meeting Tuesday, November 24, 2015, saw a litany of complaints about the height, location and increase in density that would flow from a 112-unit building. Funny how the world did not see this coming when the TTC said it must have a transit line across Eglinton. Councillor Chrstin Carmichael Greb (Ward 16) has been fielding a lot of complaints. Her office is saying the concept is way too high. Zoning permits as many as seven storeys but, as we have seen on the east of Yonge, that is no restriction in the minds of developers. Pressure is intense to go higher especially at major intersections.  Yitz’s is in place for the forseeable future, according to management. But sooner or later — it might be five years — Yitz will have to move or call it a day.