A pair of contentious redevelopment proposals on Wellington west of Spadina have been consolidated into one joint-venture proposal by the owners of the side-by-side lots: Hullmark’s 470-474 Wellington Street West and Doubledown Holdings’ 482-488 Wellington Street West are now one.

Both proposals were originally submitted to the City in December 2016. 474 Wellington was previously planned as a 15-storey, architectsAlliance-designed mixed-use building rising 66.3 metres and containing primarily offices. 488 Wellington was previously planned as a 16-storey mixed-use building with a height of 66.22 metres, containing primarily office uses, and featuring architecture by RAW Design. 

In response to issues raised by City staff regarding the two developments, Hullmark and Doubledown have joined forces, collaborating to integrate the two developments into a single revised proposal. The updated plan calls for a 14-storey office building designed by architectsAlliance, reaching a height of 62.95 metres to the top of the mechanical penthouse.

Revised plan for 474 Wellington West, image via submission to City of Toronto

The revised proposal includes a significant heritage component, with a 5-storey base building incorporating retained portions of the most westerly heritage building at 482 Wellington Street, as well as the façade of 488 Wellington. The heritage elements are being overseen by heritage specialists ERA Architects.

Heritage retention plan, image via submission to City of Toronto

The new base building at 474 Wellington is being designed to complement the heritage elements rather than mimic or compete with them. 1,076 m² of retail is proposed, spread across three ground-floor units; two fronting Wellington Street and a third fronting onto a future laneway planned for the rear of the site.

474 Wellington West, image via submission to City of Toronto

Above the retail, the building would add 21,986 m² (or 236,655 ft²) of office space to the site. The consolidation of the two sites has factored into the revised proposal’s floor space index (FSI) of 7.71, a significant reduction from the original applications’ FSI of 10.

Interior, 474 Wellington West, image via submission to City of Toronto

The without prejudice settlement offer comes in advance of a May 2019 hearing at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), where it is expected more details about the proposal will emerge.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.

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