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Following the rejection of two earlier plans by the City and the Ontario Land Tribunal, One Properties has resubmitted Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Toronto for a site on the northwest corner of Church and Wellesley Street East in the heart of the city's gay village. The reworked proposed development designed by Graziani + Corazza Architects includes two mixed-use residential buildings, one 28 storeys tall on the west side of Dapper Lane, and a 7-storey building on the with retail uses at grade facing Church Street. The site is made up of six properties with retail, commercial and residential buildings that range from 2 through 5 storeys, and includes undeveloped land.
The Planning Rationale submitted by Bousfields Inc to the CIty on behalf of One Properties outlines the six properties that currently make up the site:
- 64 Wellesley Street East (5-storey rental apartment)
- 66 Wellesley Street East (4-storey apartment)
- 552-554 Church Street (3 and a half-storey building)
- 556-560 Church Street (2-storey commercial building)
- 564-568 Church Street (2-storey commercial building)
- 570 Church Street (undeveloped lands)
The first proposal by One Properties for a smaller assemblage of properties on the site was for a 43-storey mixed-use building designed by 3XN of Copenhagen. The City considered this an overdevelopment of the site. The site was then expanded by adding 64 Wellesley Street East, which added a requirement for more rental replacement units and the preservation of the heritage walls in the redevelopment. The second proposal was for two buildings, one being a 36-storey building to the west of Dapper Lane and a 9-storey mid-rise building to the east. This application was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal in June, 2021. The height of that application was a concern and as a result, the application has been revised to the current 28 and 7 storey proposal which is intended to improve the buildings' transitions to the surrounding areas. The Planning Rationale states that the form or the new proposal would help preserve the mid-rise character of the Church Street Corridor.
The total gross floor area of the proposed development is 26,901m² with a floor space Index of 9.18. The proposed residential gross floor area is 26,017m² and includes 884m² of non-residential space. There would be 369 residential units within the 2 buildings, with 235 one-bedrooms (64%), 90 two-bedrooms (24%), and 44 three-bedrooms (12%). Of these units, 293 would be market rate condo units in the West building, and 76 rental units in the East building. The proposed site would have 1,026m² of indoor amenity space and 450 m² of outdoor amenity space among the two buildings.
Vehicular access for both buildings would be provided from Dapper Lane. The West building would include two levels of underground parking with 90 vehicular spaces and 374 bicycle spaces. The development would include a turn around area and two loading spaces which would be accessed north of the public laneway. The site is 150 meters east of Wellesley subway station and is also served by Wellesley buses.
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: | Bousfields, EQ Building Performance Inc., Ferris + Associates Inc., Graziani + Corazza Architects, MCW Consultants Ltd, RJC Engineers, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering |
