Church Wellesley Update
News from the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association
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City Council has approved the development application for 506 Church Street (Crews / Tangos).
The City Staff final report regarding the 14-storey, 165-unit mixed-use condo building is here: https://www.toronto.ca/.../te/bgrd/backgroundfile-227482.pdf Some extracts from the Report: The current proposal incorporates numerous revisions from the original application as summarized below: - reduced building height from 15-storeys (52.72 metres, inclusive of the mechanical penthouse) to 14 storeys (47.7 metres, inclusive of the mechanical penthouse); - reduced density from 8.08 to 7.47 times the area of the lot; refined streetwall height and massing to respond to the low-rise context of the Church Street village. - revised building massing to reduce penetrations into the Church Street angular plane; - introduction of a step back from the north property line above the 10th storey to improve massing; - introduction of a setback at the ground level to maintain service access for the property to the south; - reduced unit count from 173 to 165 units, and maintained proportion of two bedroom units at 38% and three bedroom units at 10% of the total units; increased amenity space from 3.8 to 4.63 square metres per unit; - reduced parking count from 40 to 32 parking spaces; -refined the layout of the non-residential space at the ground floor to accommodate desired entertainment uses. The developer will pay Section 37 benefits of $1,700,000 to go toward local streetscape and laneway improvements. Throughout the application process, local residents and stakeholders have emphasized the importance of preserving this part of Church Street as a place for 2SLGBTQ+ people to come together. According to the developer, the ground floor non-residential space has been configured in cooperation with the current operator of Crews and Tangos to permit a potential return to the site following construction of the new building. In addition, City staff in Economic Development and Culture are developing a Cultural Districts Program to support cultural districts across the city, including the Church-Wellesley Village. More background and details can be read in the Staff Report: https://www.toronto.ca/.../te/bgrd/backgroundfile-227482.pdf By Peter Small A first of two fires that struck a 19th-Century house on Maitland St. over a year ago was deliberately set, according to a newly released report. The Confidential Fire Investigation Report by the Ontario Fire Marshal lists the cause of the fire as “Incendiary – Arson – intentional.” The report was released to the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association last week after it was requested more than a year ago under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.  The 150-year-old house at 34 Maitland St. was set alight in the late afternoon of Oct. 8, 2020, five months after it had been nominated for heritage designation. Toronto police at 51 Division are still investigating the arson and there are as yet no suspects. said Const. Edward Parks. Hazelview Properties, which manages the site for the owners -- listed on tax records as TC Core GP Inc. and TCR 208 Equities Inc. – did not respond to requests for comment. This fire was followed three months later -- in the early hours of Jan. 16, 2021 -- by a second fire. Soon after the second fire, engineers and the city of Toronto deemed the three-storey building structurally unsafe, Hazelview Properties said at the time. The owners tore it down in April, 2021. The first fire broke out just two days after the Architecture Conservancy of Ontario featured research stating that the Second Empire house was at risk. The vacant property had been subject at times to city work orders. “There are two separate and simultaneously burning fires associated with this incident,” according to the Fire Marshal’s report, conducted by investigator James Gillespie. The fire was intentionally set by matches or a lighter in two separate rooms, one on the first floor and the other on the second floor, according to the report. The main floor blaze was set in a room that was empty of furniture except for an upright piano, the report says. “The ignition sequence was the intentional application of an open flame to a combustible material intentionally introduced into the room,” the investigator wrote. On the second floor, someone set fire to clothing piled, along with paper, in a corner, the report says.  34 Maitland - October 8, 2020 Adam Wynne, a local historian who nominated the house for heritage designation, said he is both concerned and disheartened by the fact that the fire was deliberately set. This makes him all the more curious about the cause of the second fire, he said.
Police say they are not investigating the second blaze. The Toronto fire department, which looked into it, could not determine a cause. “I hope that we don’t see more acts of arson in the Church-Wellesley Village or elsewhere in Toronto,” Wynne said. The arson is one of several blazes in historic houses in downtown Toronto in recent years. The building, constructed in either 1867 or 1870, is one of the first properties built on the north side of Maitland, according to Wynne’s research. It is the former residence of George Smith Holmested (1841-1928) -- a prominent barrister and member of the administration of Osgoode Hall -- in addition to being the home of several other notables, Wynne found. It has been “vacant for several years and is under increased and/or imminent risk of demolition due to an increasing number of intensive redevelopment projects in the surrounding area,” Wynne wrote in his nomination. However, city staff rejected the building for heritage designation. According to city documents, Timbercreek Asset Management, now Hazelview Properties, which had charge of the house, declared as early as 2016 that the property “is not, nor will it be, occupied and is being considered for demolition.” The Fire Investigation Report can be downloaded here. On June 30 there will be a public meeting of the Toronto and East York Community Council regarding the 14-storey development proposal for Crews / Tangos. In December 2021, Graywood Development submitted a revised development proposal for a midrise at 506-516 Church Street (Crews / Tangos and the adjacent parking lot). The revision reduces the building's overall height to 14 storeys from 15; decreases the number of condominium units from 197 to 164; and introduces additional step backs and terracing. Graywood first submitted a development application to the City in July of 2020. City staff released a Preliminary Report regarding the application in September 2020. After two community stakeholder Working Group meetings, the developer submitted a revised application in early April 2021, which was followed by a community consultation later that month. The developer submitted a revised application in December 2021. For background information, including the developers revised proposal, see the Development Application Centre (click Supporting Documentation and sort by date). The Church Wellesley Village Development Working Group, led by Councillor Wong-Tam and composed of representatives of CWNA, the BIA and other stakeholders, met with Graywood for the third time on March 2, 2022 to review the latest application. In addition to adjustments to the massing of the building, the presentation included more design details; the Crews/Tangos building restored to its original brick; and ideas for historical interpretation and laneway activation. In May 2022, Toronto City Council voted to designate 508-510 Church Street a Heritage Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. The developers final resubmission will be brought to the Toronto and East York Community Council on June 30. For more information about the Community Council meeting, see the Notice of Public Meeting.  Rescheduled to Wednesday, June 8
Community Consultation - Northwest Corner of Church and Wellesley (64-66 Wellesley St. E. and 552-570 Church St.) Learn more and provide your feedback about the ONE Properties proposal for a 28 storey tower on Wellesley Street and a 7 storey mid-rise on Church Street, separated by Dapper Lane. The City Staff Preliminary Report on the proposal is here. You can find out more at CWNA.ca and at the City's Development Application Information Centre Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 6 to 8 pm (online) Online registration: 1. Go to the City's Planning Consultations web page 2. Meetings are listed by street number; scroll down to addresses starting with six, "64-66 Wellesley" (it will be on the first or second page of listings). 3. Click the link to register and receive an email invitation Telephone: The call-in number and meeting number will be provided on the City's Planning Consultations web page on the day of the meeting. Just two weeks after proposing a 62-storey tower at 88 Isabella, Capital Developments has submitted a separate development application for a 69-storey tower next door, at 90 to 94 Isabella. The new tower would include 837 condominium units. The heritage homes fronting Isabella would be preserved, with the tower rising behind. Details about the proposal can be found at the City's Development Application Information Centre (Supporting Documentation tab). A response from the City will be forthcoming, after which a public consultation will be scheduled. You can add your contact information in order to be notified of the public consultation on on the Development Application Information Centre page (Public Consultation tab).  Proposed tower at 90 Isabella, beside proposed tower at 88 Isabella   Capital Developments has submitted a proposal to demolish the 14-storey apartment building at 88 Isabella Street and replace it with a 62-storey condominium tower. The site is one building east of Church Street, adjacent to Al Sparrow Lane. The existing apartment building has 82 units. The new tower would include 751 residential units, 82 of which would be rental replacement units from the existing building. Details about the proposal can be found at the City's Development Application Information Centre (Supporting Documentation tab). A response from the City will be forthcoming, after which a public consultation will be scheduled. You can add your contact information in order to be notified of the public consultation on on the Development Application Information Centre page (Public Consultation tab). Capital Developments is also proposing a tower next door at 90 Isabella.  88 Isabella proposed site at Al Sparrow Lane  Existing 82 unit apartment building at 88 Isabella  Proposed 62-storey tower The naming ceremony for Travellers’ Way, the TTC walkway on the east side of the Wellesley subway station, took place on April 24. This was be 11th lane naming undertaken by the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association, an ongoing project of the CWNA’s Placemaking Committee to create meaning in our public spaces. "Travellers' Way" reflects the importance of the heritage building at 17 Dundonald Street that stood on the east side of the walkway. The new condominium at 17 Dundonald displays etched plaques outlining the history of the original building at the site, once home to the Commercial Travellers’ Association of Canada. The name also speaks to the many travellers who daily use the walkway as a connection to the our public transit system and our green spaces. This lane naming was done in partnership with the Toronto Transit Commission, which owns the walkway. Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam led the unveiling, one of her last official acts in the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood as Ward 13 City Councillor.  CANCELLED DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES - POSTPONED TO A LATER DATE - MORE INFO TO FOLLOW
Learn more and provide your feedback about the ONE Properties proposal for a 28 storey tower on Wellesley Street and a 7 storey mid-rise on Church Street, separated by Dapper Lane. The City Staff Preliminary Report on the proposal is here. See our backgrounder page on this project here. The Community Consultation is scheduled for: Tuesday May 10, 2022, 6 to 8 pm (online) Online registration: 1. Go to the City's Planning Consultations web page 2. Meetings are listed by street number; scroll down to "64-66 Wellesley" 3. Click the link to register and receive an email invitation Telephone: The call-in number and meeting number will be provided on the City's Planning Consultations web page on the day of the meeting. CANCELLED DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES - POSTPONED TO A LATER DATE - MORE INFO TO FOLLOW A group of six residences on Gloucester Street and Dundonald Street has been put up for sale for $49.2 million; if the sale were successful a development application for a condominium tower could follow. 23 to 29A Gloucester Street are five townhouses running between Bumpkins Restaurant and Wabenose Lane; 16 Dundonald Street is to the south of the other properties, bordering James Canning Gardens. Bumpkins Restaurant is also for sale, separately, with an asking price of $12.8 million. While the properties are being marketed as a consolidation, it is likely that there is an agreement in place between the six owners to seek a buyer together at the agreed price. A recent search of public land ownership records indicate that the properties are still owned separately. Given the asking price, any developer purchasing the consolidated properties would be counting on approval of a tall building, similar in height to those on Charles Street.  According to the 2013 North Downtown Yonge Urban Design Guidelines, the properties are located in the Gloucester / Dundonald Character Area, which: ... contains the area’s prevalent mix of grade-related residential homes (single detached, semi-detached, townhouses) ... This Character Area as a prominent Neighbourhood should be preserved and maintained without any interruption to its existing built form and scale. The Gloucester / Dundonald Character Area is unique in its aim of strongly protecting low-rise dwellings, because it is surrounded by other Character Areas that allow for higher density. The Isabella, Wellesley Wood, College / Carlton, and Church Street Village Character Areas are designated by Toronto's Official Plan as Apartment Neighbourhoods or Mixed Use Areas and allow for context sensitive intensification. If the properties were sold to a developer, a proposal for a tall building would be opposed by the City and by CWNA. If the developer appealed the proposal to the Ontario Lands Tribunal and succeeded in having the Neighbourhood zoning thrown out in order to erect a tall building, the precedent would essentially green light the Manhattanization of our neighbourhood's quieter side streets, both east and west of Church Street.  Page 15 of the Toronto Urban Design Guidelines: North Downtown Yonge (2013) explains that the guidelines have expressly "... created a character area to protect this neighbourhood from future growth and any negative impacts from surrounding developments to ensure that the current built form and massing within this area are maintained ..." Regarding heritage preservation, the Guidelines state that "Most of the buildings are not listed within City of Toronto Heritage Inventory, but a large number of them carry notable and distinct architectural design." Local historian Adam Wynne has recently submitted a Heritage Property Nomination for 16 Dundonald Street. The Guidelines go on to enumerate design directions for new developments, including that, "they will be in the form of lowrise residential built form (single detached, semi-detached, townhouses) and small scale commercial, replicating the height of the existing low-rise buildings." The Gloucester Street initiative would not be in keeping with Toronto City Planning. We will keep you informed of news on this enterprise. Acknowledgment: Thanks to Adam Wynne for bringing this issue to the attention of CWNA, conducting and sharing research and submitting the Heritage Nomination.
City staff issued a preliminary report in December in response to KingSett Capital's new development application for 475 Yonge Street (Courtyard Marriot). The issues are primarily due to the size and mass of the proposed towers; KingSett's proposal is for two towers, of 78 and 75 storeys. In September KingSett submitted the new development application for the site, located between Wood and Alexander Streets. KingSett first acquired the property in 2015. In December 2017, City Council approved a development application in which KingSett proposed to build two connected towers of 58 and 48 storeys on the site. In pre-application documents, KingSett emphasized that the new application will provide more public parkland and privately-owned publicly accessible (POP) space than the 2017 application, since the podium between the two towers would be eliminated. KingSett Capital is a multi-billion dollar private equity real estate investment firm with a portfolio that includes much of downtown Yonge Street. The corporation has also assembled lands at the northeast corner of Church and Wellesley; and the northeast corner of Church and Maitland (see map). The decision to apply for 20 storeys more than was approved in 2017 is likely related to nearby approvals and applications for other very tall buildings on Yonge Street, including a 73 storey building immediately to the south, between Carlton and Wood, that was approved through a settlement agreement in April of this year. The new application, including architectural plans and the shadow study can be found online at the City's Development Application Centre. City staff issued a preliminary report in December, 2021 which details numerous issues to be resolved, primarily due to the size and mass of the proposed towers. The Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association Development Committee met with the developer on January 13 to discuss the proposal. On March 2, the CWNA Development Committee also took part in the Working Group, hosted by Councillor Wong-Tam, to review the proposal and the City's preliminary report. The CWNA Development Committee will also be meeting with the City Planner assigned to the project. The developer has offered community space in one of the building podiums; the type, size and location of the community space is yet to be determined. An issue with the proposed design is that the much of the building at street level -- particularly beside the park and POP -- has no relationship to pedestrians or park users. Animation of these areas, preferably related to the community space, would be more desirable. A community consultation meeting date has not yet been announced, but you can make written comments now and request to be notified of the community consultation by following the Public Consultation link on the proposal's Development Application Centre page.     |