A Mississauga roller skating rink that has been featured in TV and movies, beloved for its retro vibes, could soon be torn down to make way for a sprawling new residential development.
Plans are in motion to bring a massive four-tower comples to a site spanning 2077-2105 Royal Windsor Drive that would see all existing buildings levelled.
This includes the vintage-looking Scooter’s Roller Palace at 2105 Royal Windsor, an adjacent auto service centre, a car rental and a Harvey’s location.
Plans for the site were first filed in late 2022, but two years later, developer Slate Asset Management has returned with a new submission that would see the 3.7-acre property next to Clarkson GO station site built out with four residential towers.
Similar to the 2022 plan, the updated pitch features designs from architects Gensler, though the building heights have been increased and are now proposed to rise 35, 35, 31 and 25 storeys.
In line with these height increases, the complex has seen its unit count increase from the 1,240 units proposed two years earlier to a new total of 1,419 residential units, including 16 live/work units.
Aside from changes to the heights and unit count, one notable introduction since the initial proposal is the 2024 add-on of a 1,750 square-metre parkland dedication situated at the north end of the lands.
Other aspects of the plan have remained in place, like a ‘central spine’ at the core of the community that the project team hopes will promote walkability and encourage residents to use the nearby transit station rather than relying on cars, as is the norm in the 905.
In fact, the developer has doubled-down on this plan with a vast reduction in the planned parking component, slashed from the 860 spaces proposed in 2022 down to just 567 in the current version.
Bicycle parking has increased since 2022’s plan, with just shy of 950 spots for residents, visitors and retail spaces.
The plan has been in the works since 2016, and the rezoning application filed in 2022 came only after years of studies, reports, and consultations.
In 2023, Brandon Donnelly, managing director of development at Slate, told blogTO that the proposal was the product of “years of thoughtful study and public engagement,” and hailed the proposal as a “vibrant, transit-oriented, mixed-use community.”
Donnelly said at the time that Slate identified the Scooter’s site and an adjacent site of parking serving the Dixie Outlet Mall “as high-impact urban infill projects where we could apply our placemaking experience to bring to life more sustainable, people-centered developments.”
He added that the firm hopes to “unlock the inherent potential of these two sites in a way that will benefit the city and surrounding areas for years to come.”