A TTC subway entrance has been shuttered for the next few years, while an adjacent parking lot is about to disappear forever.

A waning condo market has impacted the number of new housing starts in the province in 2024, but, despite an approximate 65 per cent dive in new housing starts in the past two years, one project is finally about to press forward after many years of planning, and introduce two towers above a TTC subway station.

The new Yonge City Square project at 4050 Yonge Street will feature two towers rising 32 and 14 storeys, adding more than 700 new homes above York Mills subway station on the TTC's Line 1 and immediately across the street from GO Transit's York Mills Bus Terminal.

Representatives of developer Gupta Group will be joined by Ontario Premier Doug Ford next Monday, December 9, to finally break ground on the development following almost a decade and a half of plans for the site of the commuter parking lot at Yonge and York Mills.

Rendering facing northwest to Yonge City Square. Image via Gupta Group.

The ceremonial event to commemorate the event next week will mark the first condominium development to get underway in the Hoggs Hollow neighbourhood in more than two decades, and is set to include a "special announcement regarding a planned donation to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation."

Rendering facing south to Yonge City Square. Image via Gupta Group.

The site in question is currently occupied by a surface parking lot known as the 4050 Yonge Street Commuter Lot, a busy spot for commuters looking to skip out on downtown traffic or to drive to/from the GO terminal. Formerly a TTC-managed commuter lot, the site was destined to be built out as an office building in a plan dating back to 2010 led by the City-created Build Toronto.

In 2015, Gupta Group acquired the 3.2-acre site and announced its intention to construct a mixed-use development on the lands that has evolved through many revisions and even overcame public backlash to become the current plan, now ready to begin construction.

Facing northeast over Yonge and Yorkmills with the project site visible at the left. Image via Google Maps.

But despite the project's highly-publicized construction start, it appears that the coming ground breaking will be a purely ceremonial event where the developer will rub shoulders with Doug Ford and company for a photo-op before the parking lot reverts to its current use.

A representative at Spacious Car Park Management Inc. confirmed to blogTO that the parking lot will indeed reopen to motorists just four hours after the event concludes, at 4 p.m. on December 9.

When asked for a permanent closing date for the lot, the representative said that it was "not [happening] anytime soon."

However, shoring and excavation permits were issued for the site in mid-2024, and heavy construction equipment has begun to mobilize on the future construction site.

And it appears that construction may be coming sooner than the parking operator realizes.

A representative of Gupta Group tells blogTO that the team is "starting with the demolition of the existing TTC York Mills subway entrance on the property. This work is limited in scope and will allow for some parking operations to continue."

"In January, we will start with the excavation and shoring work on a section of the property with some parking on-site still available. As construction continues, we will provide updates on when parking will become more limited and eventually no longer be feasible."

Meanwhile, the TTC subway entrance on site has already shuttered in preparation for the redevelopment.

The existing subway entrance on the northwest corner. Image via Google Street View.

A closure notice has been posted at the York Mills subway station entrance at the northwest corner of Yonge and York Mills, informing commuters that the access point will be shuttered for at least three years until a new entrance is built into the forthcoming development.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green tells blogTO that "As part of the redevelopment of that corner, access to the station there will be closed off."

Green says signs were posted last week, while TTC customer service representatives are on hand to guide commuters to remaining entrances, adding that "station access at that corner will return as part of the new development."

The existing subway entrance at this site, soon to be torn down, was constructed for the 1973-opened York Mills station and has stood in this position for over 51 years. 

Three years may be an optimistic estimate, as Gupta Group has stated that occupancy for its project is expected to begin in Spring 2028.