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Another King-Parliament area proposal is being brought to Toronto's city planners by Lamb Development Corp, which has submitted an application to the City for the rezoning of 296 King Street East. This one is proposed to stand 34 storeys tall on a 0.139 hectare property located on the northwest corner with Berkeley Street.
The site is an assembly of three properties, and includes a mix of one-, two- and three-storey buildings, primarily occupied by commercial uses and at-grade parking lots. The proposed amendments would permit the construction of a residential mixed-use building with a height of 34 storeys. The building would contain approximately 23,710m² of gross floor area, inclusive of 1,188m² of retail space on the ground floor, and 364 residential units in a mix of unit types, including 49 studios (32.4%) 139 one-bedrooms (38.2%) 64 two-bedrooms (17.6%) and 43 three-bedrooms (11.8%). All of this would result in a density of approximately 17.1 FSI.
Designed by architects—Alliance, the building would be inclusive of a 4-storey base building that incorporates the existing “Charles Coxwell Small House” heritage building into its design, fronting onto King. Along Berkeley, the base element would have a contemporary design, with a height of 16 metres, and framed by horizontal and vertical brick “louvers” and apertures which would divide the base element into fine-grain rectangular elements, providing for visual interest and articulation at the street level.
The ground floor of the building is proposed to include approximately 720m² of retail space, with pedestrian access from the King and Berkeley sidewalks. To the north of the retail space would be the residential lobby and residential service uses, such as the mail, parcel and moving rooms.
The mezzanine level would include 234m² of additional retail space within the heritage building at the King/Berkeley intersection, together with approximately 185m² of residential indoor amenity space at the north end. Another 234m² of retail space would be on the uppermost level of the heritage building. The remainder of Levels 2-4 would in the modern podium be comprised of residential units.
The fifth level would offer a 93m² private outdoor amenity terrace for residents of the building, which would be screened by the vertical and horizontal cladding features. Level 5 would also be comprised of 443m² of indoor amenity space, contiguous with the outdoor amenity space.
Levels 7 to 33 of the tower would include angled projecting balconies on its east and west elevations, along with an architectural cladding element to provide for visual interest. In addition to the sixth level, the tower element will be comprised solely of residential units.
Vehicular parking for the site is proposed to be accommodated within a four-level below-grade garage, accessed via two car elevators on the north elevation of the building off of Pompadour Lane. The development would provide a total of 46 residential parking spaces. A total of 366 bicycle parking spaces are also planned, 329 for residents and 37 for visitors.
The site is served by streetcars on King Street as well as on Queen a short walk north. Additionally, the site is located within a 50 metre radius of the planned Corktown Station on the future Ontario Line, located a block south at the 'First Parliament Site' across Front Street.
The “First Parliament Site” is currently occupied by an automobile dealership, a car wash, a vehicle rental agency, and a municipal parking lot. The properties are designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and are the location of the first Ontario Legislature parliament buildings, which were constructed between 1797 to 1824. In later years, the site was redeveloped for a county district jail and the Consumer’s Gas Company. In 2012, the City of Toronto acquired the First Parliament Site via a land transfer and, recognizing the site’s historical importance, commenced a master planning process to create a vision for the site and establish a series of principles for how the site should be developed. Plans for the site are changing with the coming of the Ontario Line station. We covered that site in more depth, a little while back.
You can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, Bousfields, EQ Building Performance Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Grounded Engineering Inc. |
