Even though The Rockport Group has cut its condo office plans for the Leaside Business Park by 80 percent, from 200,000 square feet to 40,000, Dag Enhorning, president of the LBP, complained, “This is a death blow to the Park.”
At a community meeting at Leaside library this summer, Enhorning said the proposal for condo offices and a self storage building was not “consistent with manufacturing and industrial uses” that now exist.
He said the LBP opposes it.
Councillor John Parker disagreed. “Face up to reality,” he said. “We are not going to get another Kodak or a Christie’s. Large businesses are going other places, smaller businesses are the way things are going.”
Many large manufacturing companies have moved out of the business park.
Instead of seven office condo buildings, the new plans submitted to the city calls for two storeys. The self-storage building would have 80,000 square feet.
Rockport made the reduction in office space after comments from city planning staff.
The site on Wicksteed will also have a Canada Post 33,000 square foot distribution centre.
The proposal will be before the North York Community Council later this year.