Toronto-area strip mall could be demolished for 15 towers as tall as 68 storeys

A gargantuan change for Brampton’s skyline is in the works, as a recent proposal seeks to replace a suburban strip mall with a new community housing thousands of homes in towers as tall as 68 storeys.

Bramrose Square, a suburban strip mall at Queen Street East and Highway 410 in Brampton, is the subject of a new development application from Starbank Developments.

The owners have proposed an absolutely enormous vertical community that is a substantial departure from the current suburban land uses, replacing the low-slung plaza with 15 towers ranging in height from 24 to 68 storeys.

Designed by Turner Fleischer Architects, the new community is envisioned to be built in seven phases, beginning with a plot currently occupied by surface parking before moving on to swallow up existing retail.

A No Frills location would be a casualty of this phasing plan, though the developer has committed to replacing the grocery store within a new location in the heart of the development.

The majority of the proposal consists of housing, including 6,629 units across 525,125 square metres (5,652,689 square feet) of residential space. In addition, the plan calls for a total of 4,567 square metres (49,159 square feet) of retail space and 9,698 square metres (104,388 square feet) of office space.

Density and housing are much needed amid the current housing crisis in Ontario. However, it could be argued that — under the surface of these glossy high-density renderings — the proposal is not an optimal exercise in city-building in the current format.

The site has virtually no transit access aside from a low-capacity bus route, and higher-order transit would likely be a critical factor in getting such a tall order through at Brampton City Hall.

Indeed, the project sheds any mask of urbanity the second you glance at the proposed parking, with a staggering 8,174 spaces proposed across the site in a combination of below-grade, at-grade and above-grade parking structures.

Residents and businesses would have access to a central neighbourhood public park and open green space that would be constructed within the community’s fourth phase — the enjoyability of which may be hindered by thousands of idling cars clogging up the master-planned community’s road network.

Though provisions for retail and office space are included in plans, a community of such a vast population would be expected to include some level of community amenities beyond just a park, and despite the flashy imagery, this is one proposal that may never make it past the drawing board in its current form.