Toronto No Frills to be demolished for new apartment building

The City of Toronto has approved an application to replace a No Frills grocery store in Toronto’s Cokrtown neighbourhood with a new high-rise.

Development firm WZMH Architects first applied to remodel the proposed site near Front and Princess streets in 2018. Alongside a proposed 28-storey office building unit, the new residential complex will include 310 rental apartments, 661 parking spaces and 809 bicycle parking spaces.

Surrounding buildings, including the Globe and Mail Centre and George Brown campus, will remain, with the new structures built around them.

It’s possible a smaller grocer could replace the existing supermarket – the zoning application includes possible retail space on the towers’ ground floor – but the No Frills is one of very few affordable grocery options in Toronto’s Corktown neighbourhood. The next closest grocery store is a Metro, as well as a handful of independent markets.

A 2019 community consultation meeting revealed that some stakeholders are concerned about “the loss of a large affordable grocery store.” Though the zoning application does not eliminate the possibility of a new grocery store, it does indicate the new structure will have fewer loading bays, which will not be sufficient for the existing No Frills as it currently stands.

Before the building permit is issued by the City of Toronto, WZMH must either pay a cash contribution of $5 million to the construction of affordable housing, local landscaping improvements and community culture initiatives, or open a child care centre in the central office building.