A stretch of several Asian restaurants in North York may soon meet the wrecking ball as plans advance for a massive condominium development proposed to rise above Yonge Street.

Plans from A1 Development call for the redevelopment of a group of properties wrapping around the Yonge and Churchill intersection, from 5318 through 5334 Yonge Street and 11 Churchill Avenue.

The development threatens the end of several Asian restaurants, including Bone Soup Malatang, Sugar Marmalade, The Owl of Minerva and its nearby meat shop a few doors to the north, Take A Bao, Hot Impression, and Mom's Dim Sum. It would also affect other businesses on the subject site, including a print shop and a dispensary.

However, planning and approvals are a lengthy process, and it could be years before these properties are forced to close their doors.

Google Street View.

The developer sought permits to redevelop the site in mid-2022, initially applying for zoning by-law and Official Plan amendments for a mixed-use complex with 36- and 12-storey towers.

Following the acquisition of a one-storey retail space and surface parking lot at 5318 Yonge Street, a revised application dropped for the expanded site this past April, upping the ask to towers of 45 and 33 storeys and a total of 862 units.

A design by architects Dialog would feature towers with rounded corners and projecting balconies rising to heights of 151.6 and 115.5 metres.

A total of 862 units are proposed for the site, along with a commercial/retail component at the base housing 1463.6 square metres of space that would hopefully replace some of the street animation that exists today.

Plans show that the ground floor includes just four retail spaces, replacing the ten storefronts that currently line this stretch of Yonge.

Despite an increase of 138 units from the 2022 plan, the proposed parking component has actually shrunk by almost 40 spaces, now proposing parking for 193 vehicles. This reduction in parking is offset by a significant increase in proposed bicycle parking, increasing from 404 spaces in the 2022 submission to 658 in the current plan.

An overburdened Toronto City Council failed to make a decision on the April 2023 application within the prescribed 120-day timeline, opening the door for an appeal by the developer to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) on June 8.

The City issued a report recommending that the City Solicitor and City staff "attend the OLT hearing to oppose the application in its current form and to continue discussions with the Applicant to resolve outstanding issues."

Which means this story is far from over.