Toronto Grand Park Village | 133m | 40s | Minto Group | Wallman Architects

I'm sorry I wasn't clear - I wasn't expecting you to run out and do legal research. None of what you posted above allows the City to pass the by-law you are proposing. A notice of intention to designate under the Ontario Heritage Act would render any demolition permit void, but the Act first requires that the Toronto Preservation Board be consulted and that City Council issue the notice. Under Chapter 103 of the Toronto Municipal Code, staff have delegated authority to issue the notice in some circumstances, but only where the property has already been listed (the Act provides for a delay of up to 60 days where the property is listed). This building wasn't even listed, let along designated.

My recollection is that there is a hole in the legislation, and that the City can be caught with its pants down when it comes to non-residential buildings. Fixing the problem is not as simple as the City passing a by-law, I don't think.
 
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adma said:
I passed the site yesterday--it's worth noting that the gabled wooden tower (did it have something to do with the manufacture of strings?) is sitting on its side at the north edge of the property. Everything else is basically rubble at this point.

I'm presuming that it (probably the most visually distinctive part of the factory, more so than even the painted signage) is earmarked for retention and resurrection somewhere, somehow.
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They used to make string for tennis rackets in the building.
 
Skeezix said:
I'm sorry I wasn't clear - I wasn't expecting you to run out and do legal research. None of what you posted above allows the City to pass the by-law you are proposing. A notice of intention to designate under the Ontario Heritage Act would render any demolition permit void, but the Act first requires that the Toronto Preservation Board be consulted and that City Council issue the notice. Under Chapter 103 of the Toronto Municipal Code, staff have delegated authority to issue the notice in some circumstances, but only where the property has already been listed (the Act provides for a delay of up to 60 days where the property is listed). This building wasn't even listed, let along designated.

My recollection is that there is a hole in the legislation, and that the City can be caught with its pants down when it comes to non-residential buildings. Fixing the problem is not as simple as the City passing a by-law, I don't think.
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I read a quote on-line from the Urbantoronto article on the subject, by a City rep stating similar to what you have. I'm not so sure she's completely correct. I do see legislation under the Heritage Act offering protection to commercial buildings too, but it's contingent on the City acting with due haste, and there's the problem...not lack of legislation, albeit I'll try and garner more detail later.
How does designation differ from listing?
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Although these terms are often used interchangeably, they are different. "Listing" a property on the Heritage Register allows Heritage Preservation Services to review development and building applications affecting those properties. It also requires the owner to give the City 60 days notice of his or her intention to demolish the property. "Designation" confers a legal status on a property by a specific city by-law under the Ontario Heritage Act and gives City Council the legal authority to refuse an application that will adversely affect the property's heritage attributes. Designation may fall under one of two categories under the Ontario Heritage Act: Part IV (individual property designation) or Part V (Heritage Conservation District designation).
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http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=a5d20621f3161410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Commercial buildings do not have the same level of protection against demolition that residential buildings do. Under Section 33 of the Planning Act, municipalities have the power to prevent the demolition of residential buildings if no replacement building permit has been issued. “For commercial buildings, the only circumstance where there is demolition control is if it's designated a heritage building," Ann Borooah, Executive Director and Chief Building Official for Toronto Building told us. “If something is allowed as-of-right and doesn’t need more municipal approvals, we’re obligated to issue a demolition permit.” In addition, the Building Code states that municipalities must review the permit application within a specified timeframe so long as it meets the defined criteria. "Once all the requirements have been met, there's an obligation to issue," said Borooah.

In cases where an application has been submitted to demolish a building not currently designated, the City can signal its "intention to designate" which would void any demolition or alteration permits in the system. Anyone, including the property owner, can object to the intention to designate within 30 days, after which a hearing will be held if any such objections are filed. Though the intention to designate voids any active permits, it first requires proper study and approval by the Toronto Preservation Board and City Council. “You have to research, you have to document, you have to understand architectural history and the history of the site," Mary MacDonald, Acting Manager of Heritage Preservation Services told us. "You need to put all that together and evaluate it in order for it to be a designation which will withstand an appeal. The primary goal is to make sure that your designation is sound, that it’s based on existing criteria, and that it’s defensible.”
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http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2015/01/explaining-heritage-designation-process-ontario[/quote]

I'll dig further later, but the onus appears to lie with the City.

Edit to Add from first glance:
[In addition, the Building Code states that municipalities must review the permit application within a specified timeframe so long as it meets the defined criteria. "Once all the requirements have been met, there's an obligation to issue," said Borooah.]
"Once all the requirements have been met"...I'd like to see that defined. The term "abrogation" is ringing....
 
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ChesterCopperpot said:
They used to make string for tennis rackets in the building.
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I know; the (late) painted signage indicated as much--just my deductive reasoning that the wooden tower had something to do with the string manufacture; usually, such oddball vertical features on factories have a "functional" purpose (cf. shot towers, elevator towers a la Dover/AYA in Mississauga, et al)
 
renx.ca

Freed scaling up its future Toronto developments | RENX - Real Estate News Exchange

Freed Developments Ltd.’s recent acquisition of Toronto’s 5.42-acre Don Valley Hotel and Suites property with Fengate Asset Management is the latest example of the developer’s focus on master-planned communities near transit. “I don’t know if we’re going to do many
renx.ca renx.ca

Freed just received approval for Grand Park Village, a large site in Etobicoke it’s been working on for more than three years.

The six-acre site across from the Mimico GO Transit station near Royal York Road and The Queensway will feature just over a million square feet of development in multiple buildings with approximately 1,300 condo units.
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AlbertC said:
renx.ca

Freed scaling up its future Toronto developments | RENX - Real Estate News Exchange

Freed Developments Ltd.’s recent acquisition of Toronto’s 5.42-acre Don Valley Hotel and Suites property with Fengate Asset Management is the latest example of the developer’s focus on master-planned communities near transit. “I don’t know if we’re going to do many
renx.ca renx.ca
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Here is the Concept Plan related to the LPAT settlement adopted by Council in June 2019: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-135837.pdf
 
If the LPAT/soon to be 2nd coming of the OMB is going to go ahead and approve this, it's time to be consistent and stop jamming all the density down Toronto's throat. Let's get some 30-40 story proposals around Oakville GO and Burlington GO, I mean it's only fair right they might as well apply a carte blanche to all neighborhoods that have a GO station.
 
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