Church Wellesley Update
News from the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association
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In September, 2021 KingSett Capital submitted a new development application for 475 Yonge Street, replacing the Courtyard Marriot Hotel, between Wood and Alexander Streets, with two separate towers of 78 and 75 storeys.
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. If built as proposed the new towers would be among the tallest buildings in Toronto -- looming over City Park Co-op and adding shadow as far east as Queen's Park Crescent; as far north as Wellesley Street; and as far west as Mutual Street. In pre-application documents, KingSett emphasized that the new application will provide more public parkland and privately-owned publicly accessible 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 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. 
Video by Koops65 shows aerial view of the proposed 78 and 75 storey towers. The approved 73 storey tower at 2 Carlton is to the south; the recently completed tower to the north is 52 storeys.
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