Strange,.....
TimesGroup seek permission to demolish the existing 2-storey former North York Hydro building on July 31, 2018
From CoStar: Exclusive: Times Group Pays $122 Million for Yonge St. Redevelopment Site [...] CoStar News can report that Times 5800 Inc., an affiliate of Times Group, bought the development site at 5800 Yonge St. from Toronto-Hydro Electric System Ltd., in a deal tied to the 1.25 million...
urbantoronto.ca
But on November 7, 2018, TimesGroup seek permission to set up Emergency Homeless/Refugee Shelter here:
"LEVY: Yonge St. building to house refugee overflow?" - "City shelter officials have squirreled away $3-million in the 2019 budget for a north Toronto building to house refugees, the Toronto Sun has learned.",.... "According to reports, that 8.1-acre site — situated north of Finch Ave. — was the former North York hydro building and was sold to a Markham-based condo developer last April.",... "Shelter, support and housing spokesman Greg Seraganian says the owner of the property approached the city to assist with its refugee response and is being held as a “contingency space.”"
City shelter officials have squirreled away $3-million in the 2019 budget for a north Toronto building to house refugees,
torontosun.com
Wow, that's very generous of TimesGroup,... but why?
The BuildToronto Terms of Sales Agreement for this NorthYork/Toronto Hydro Land to Times Group states and quantify what redevelopment can occur - which must be within the current allowable development zoining limitations (density, height, usage within North York Center Secondary Plan) for this land,... but immediately after the sale TimeGroup stated they'll try to get more,... "Times Group declined to discuss the deal when contacted, but in published reports, president Hashem Ghadaki said, “We are going to talk to the city about the density and what we can do,” and discussed plans to put three 30-storey towers on the site."
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/rea...ut-for-toronto-hydro-sale-of-north-york-site/
https://product.costar.com/home/news/shared/190129
Note: City already allowing: 3 condo tower + 1 rental tower + 3-storey mall with 5-storey office and retirement home on top
Since TimesGroup is now playing games,.... Redevelopment here may take longer than expected as both City, TimesGroup & TorontoHydro has incentives to drag this out now:
- incentives for TimesGroup is getting more density which translate to more profit
- incentive for City is not just sticking to North York Centre Secondary Plan (agreed Terms of Sales) but now a longer band-aid solution to Refugee-Homeless Shelter space
- incentive for TorontoHydro is provision in Terms of Sale that more density means more cash back to TorontoHydro
At the end of the day,... this temporary Refugee-Homeless Shelter will seem more permanent as the years go by (across the street - Newtonbrook redevelopment into a similar scale 5 tower redevelopment took over 10 years to get to its current demolition stage),...
Times Group using 2 strategies here,... kiss up to City to get more density than already agreed to in Terms of Sales Agreement,.... and piss-off locals so the new redevelopment looks good - the longer this becomes a Refugee-Homeless Shelter, the more desperate the local community will be to get rid of it - and the increased density & height becomes less of an issue!