A rendering of The Residences at Central Park, a development by Amexon at 1200 Sheppard Ave. E. in Toronto. (Courtesy Amexon)

A Sheppard Avenue property owned by Toronto’s Amexon Development Corp. since 1995 is about to be transformed into a multi-tower, mixed-use community which will include more than 2,000 residential units and 320,000 square feet of office space.

The 12-acre master-planned The Residences at Central Park at 1200 Sheppard Ave. E. will be built in phases and eventually include: five residential condominium towers; 55,000 square feet of indoor amenity space; a redesigned office component including two existing buildings on the site; retail; restaurants; and a three-acre park offering year-round, outdoor event programming.

Amexon’s redevelopment has been in the planning stages for the past 10 years.

It used to contain three office buildings, but one has been demolished and the two that remain will receive a refurbishment as part of the redevelopment of the underutilized site into a mixed-use community.

The project is a key part of Amexon’s growth strategy, which involves the acquisition of office buildings and development lands, where it makes financial sense for the company and its investors, and developing high-rise mixed-use communities.

“We’ve expanded our residential component with an investment syndicate of 20-plus private investors,” Jason Shiff, who runs the company’s real estate division, told RENX. “We’re looking for future growth in our portfolio that we want to explore for mixed-use development.”

Amexon’s history in the GTA

Amexon has been building office and residential projects in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for more than 35 years and manages a portfolio of office, retail, industrial, hotel and residential properties.

“Amexon is one of the largest privately held suburban office building developers,” Shiff said. “It owns various development lands in the GTA in its portfolio that, when developed, will be in excess of 12,000 units.”

The 160-person company is about to launch sales for the first building at The Residences at Central Park. The property is at the northwest corner of Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue East.

The Bayview Village neighbourhood site offers easy access to the shopping centre of the same name as well as to the Leslie subway station and the relocated Oriole GO Transit station.

The sprawling East Don Parkland, with its ravine network of trails that lead all the way downtown and to the Lake Ontario waterfront, is also nearby.

The Residences at Central Park

The 31-storey glass tower that will launch The Residences at Central Park will feature units with floor-to-ceiling window walls, ranging in size from 439-square-foot one-bedroom spaces to 1,200-square-foot suites with three bedrooms and a den.

More than 60 per cent of the units will have two bedrooms and each unit will have a spacious six-foot deep balcony.

“You can fit a lot of furniture out there and that was a big design aspiration for us,” said Shiff, the executive sales manager for the project.

The Park Club will be a 55,000-square-foot amenity area.

The Residences at Central Park’s recreational amenities will include: indoor and outdoor saltwater pools; spa and hot tub; fitness centre and multi-purpose fitness studios; half-size basketball court; outdoors fitness zones; rooftop decks; lounges and gardens; sauna; pet care and washing area; event kitchen; apiano and wine lounge; kids’ club; a refrigerated skating rink in winter; and much more.

There will also be a business centre, lobby lounge and library, co-working space with meeting rooms, guest suites and a full-service daycare.

The Residences at Central Park will be built with environmental sustainability and green features, including: electric vehicle charging stations located throughout the underground parking area for residents and visitors; green roofs; solar panels; bike share stations; and an on-site car share service.

The project’s design team is comprised of CORE Architects, interior designer II By IV Design and landscape architectural firm Cosburn Nauboris.

Central Park’s sales and construction timelines

Sales will begin soon for the first tower at the 1200 Sheppard Ave. E. presentation centre and Shiff said a large database of registrants has been assembled.

“We expect them to sell fast based on what we’ve seen in the market and the location.”

Prices will range from around $630,000 to $1.5 million, while condo fees will be 67 cents per square foot.

Construction for the first tower and the majority of the amenities is expected to start this summer and the summer of 2025 is being targeted for first occupancy.

Sales of subsequent towers will likely be launched within six months. Construction starts for those buildings will be based on sales.

Shiff anticipates a late-2026 completion for the entire project.

Grand Hotel site redevelopment and future projects

Amexon’s other upcoming major project is the redevelopment of the former Grand Hotel site at 225 Jarvis St. in downtown Toronto.

It will feature a 68-storey mixed-use building with six floors of hotel space with 210 suites at the base and condo units above. Sales are expected to launch toward the end of this year and construction should start early in 2023.

The most recent noteworthy Amexon development before The Residences at Central Park was The Residences of 488 University Avenue, a 55-storey, 453-unit condo completed in 2019. It was a redevelopment of an 18-storey office building at the corner of Dundas Street West that retained the office component.

Amexon also completed two 27-storey towers, which comprise South Beach Condos + Lofts, at Park Lawn Road and Lake Shore Boulevard in Etobicoke in 2012. It featured more than 600 residential units and a retail component.