Digging into the neighbourhood vibe
Developer visited a sports bar, shops and even went to church
Adidharma Purnomo was on a mission.
His company, Graywood Developments, had been looking at purchasing a property on St. Clair Ave. W., just east of Old Weston Rd., to build a condo project.
Before Graywood acquired the site, Purnomo, 43, its development director, wanted to see what life was like along this quirky but uncelebrated stretch in the city’s west end. “So I spent a few days walking around the neighbourhood, visiting all the shops and restaurants,” he tells the Star.
One Saturday night, he hung out at a sports bar and sipped coffee as he watched patrons play cards. “It was good coffee, a nice espresso.” He popped in to the Tavora market, where fresh fish is imported from Portugal twice a week. And he sampled the goods at Alli’s Fresh Baked, a bakery that supplies farmers markets across the city.
Purnomo even attended a service at the local church — the Faith Impact Ministry, whose location on St. Clair W. features a large “Jesus Saves” sign — and was welcomed warmly. “The pastor introduced me to the congregation,” he says. “And there was lots of singing and colourful characters.”
Purnomo was heartened by the diverse, dynamic community he encountered on his tour, but not surprised. A decade earlier, Graywood had built townhomes at St. Clair Ave. W. and Keele St., so he was aware of what the neighbourhood had to offer.
“It’s like a microcosm of Toronto,” he says, pointing to an ethnic mix that includes Portuguese, Italian, Filipino, Jamaican and Eastern European residents. “That’s what’s makes it so wonderful.”
While Purnomo developed a quick affinity for the people, he recognized the neighbourhood was in need of new housing options. “A lot of what’s there is outdated,” he explains. “We didn’t think it reflected the richness of this community and what it could be.”
Graywood hopes to rectify the situation with Scoop Condos, a six-storey building it launched earlier this summer at 1771 St Clair Ave. W.
The 72-unit condo is the first phase of a midrise community that’ll eventually occupy several blocks in an area Graywood has branded “West St Clair West.”
The condos, the first for this neighbourhood, will have retail at ground-level and a streetcar line running by their front door. Purnomo notes the development — named Scoop as a nod to those who come to discover the gem of a neighbourhood — will help to better connect The Stockyards shopping node to the west with Corso Italia and Wychwood Barns to the east.
And he says Scoop is precisely the kind of project the city wants to see in places like these. “It’s a model for how avenues along transit lines can be developed. We want it to establish a standard for future development here.”
Amenities at Scoop include a gym, communal dining area, library and dog wash station — an essential, given the building’s proximity to several parks in the neighbourhood to its south.
The six-storey midrise will step down to three storeys at the back of the property, creating a harmonious transition to the scale of the adjacent homes.
And the condo will be set back along St. Clair, providing more light and breathing room around the building while preserving the pedestrian feel of the street.
The retail space at Scoop and the phases that follow will bring “new excitement” to the area, says Purnomo, noting that Scoop’s ground-floor space will be ideally suited for a coffee house, eatery, bookstore, or bike shop. Future phases will have a more substantial commercial component, space large enough to accommodate a drugstore or grocery store. “The retail along St Clair needs rejuvenation, shops and services that better meet the needs of the community,” Purnomo says.
Speaking of the community, Graywood’s plan for Scoop received strong support from the local population. Shopkeepers and residents — briefed on the project via multiple community consultations before the developer went to the city to seek approvals — say they’re looking forward to the transformation the development will bring.
“The people here have a vision for the area,” Purnomo says. “They want to see it prosper and progress.”
No one was a bigger champion for Scoop than Don Panos, the owner of Don’s Wholesale Meats and head of the local business improvement area, who passed away July 12.
Purnomo says Panos, a long-standing and beloved local business owner, was instrumental in introducing Graywood and its proposal to the St. Clair Gardens BIA and the broader community, and subsequently in helping the developer to secure municipal approvals. “I can’t stress how important he was to the success of this project,” he says. “We as a company are hugely indebted to him.”
“Don attended all the meetings at city hall; they knew him well there,” says Rose Signorile, owner and operator of Central Paint and Tiles, a local shop. “He was a neighbourhood institution,” adds her son, Rocky. “The guy did everything. I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
Don died the week Scoop launched, Rocky points out, a sad twist of fate, given his passion for the project and the changes it promised to bring to the neighbourhood he loved.
But Purnomo says his company will honour Panos’ memory by delivering on that promise — and then some. “We want Scoop to set the tone for what’s to come in this community in the future.”