Crews / Tangos Development: The Latest

​In late July 2020, Graywood Developments submitted a proposal to the City for 506 to 516 Church Street (now Crews & Tangos, Boutique Bar and a Target Park surface lot).  The proposal is for a 15 storey mid-rise stepped backed from Church Street, preserving the Crews & Tango heritage building.  

On Sept. 21, City staff released a Preliminary Report which identified the following issues:
• The height, massing, and scale of the proposal in relation to the existing and planned context;
• Transition in height and massing to adjacent lands designated as Apartment Neighbourhoods;
• Potential shadowing impacts on the adjacent open spaces, public realm and neighbouring properties;
•  Interface of the proposed built form with the adjacent public realm;
• Potential wind impacts on adjacent properties and public realm, with particular focus on existing patios within the Church Street Village Character Area;
• Appropriateness of the proposed mix of unit sizes and configurations;
• Appropriateness of the areas and distribution of amenity spaces within the building 

The Report also refers to  the  need to protect LGBTQS+ small businesses and cultural space, which follows a January 29 City Council decision, moved by Councillor Wong-Tam. 

As well, the Report found that the Heritage Impact Assessment included with the proposal was incomplete "due to insufficient historical research and analysis and insufficient public consultation, which are necessary for determining the cultural heritage value of the subject site and, in particular, its significance to the LGBTQ2S+ community." 

On October 15, the Toronto and East York Community Council carried a motion, put forward by Councillor Wong-Tam, to amend the Preliminary Report, adding a key new recommendation mandating the creation of a Working Group "including the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association, Church-Wellesley Village Business Improvement Area, other local LGBTQ2S+ community stakeholders and the Ward Councillor as part of the Development Application review process to preserve culturally significant commercial and community space."  The motion will be considered by Toronto City Council at its November 26-27 meeting.

The lease of Crews & Tangos has been extended and Graywood  has committed to working with the owners of Crews & Tangos with regards to the future development. See more background in our previous post. 

A community consultation will be scheduled for later this year. 

The developer's website for the project includes all of the development application documents and a timeline of the development process so far: www.506churchstreet.com ​