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The intensification of Downtown Toronto is continuing as property owners DC Dev Corp look to amend the City’s 438-86 by-law to redevelop 450 Richmond Street West with a 19-storey condo. An initial application to develop the site was submitted to the City in 2017. The application was appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (now the Ontario Land Tribunal) for the City's failure to render a decision within the time prescribed by the Province. In advance of the a hearing at the OLT, the proponents and City came to a settlement, and in May 2020, the OLT ratified the settlement, but withheld a final order until such times as various particulars of the plan were finalized that satisfy conditions of the settlement. This year, to that end, revised documents were submitted with numerous tweaks to the proposal.
The site, currently operating as a surface commercial vacant parking lot, is located steps away from the future Queen-Spadina station on Ontario Line 3. The architects—Alliance-designed proposal would reach a height of 58.15m² and offer 116 residential dwelling units.
To accommodate families, the City looks for a minimum 20% of suites to have two bedrooms, and 10% of suites to have three bedrooms. This revised proposal does a little better than the minimums, now offering 10 studios (9%), 68 one-bedrooms (58.5%), 25 two-bedrooms (21.5%), and 13 three-bedrooms (11%).
Along with a residential lobby accessed from Richmond Street, this street frontage will also feature a retail space of 181m², with another 157m² a level below grade. Total indoor amenity space of 328m² and outdoor amenity space of 109m² is proposed, split between the second floor, and the 13th floor where the building steps back from the east lot line. Both levels include outdoor amenity terraces located adjacent to indoor amenity spaces. A newly established 95m² green roof is planned atop the 19th storey.
No parking spaces for residents are being offered, responding to the City's priority of reducing private automobile transportation, and its removal of parking minimums in new building applications. Instead, proposed are 3 short-term drop-off spaces along with 1 short-term service parking space, along with 117 bicycle parking spaces. (A westbound cycle track runs in front of the site, paired with a nearby eastbound track along Adelaide Street.) Both Queen-Spadina and King-Bathurst stations on the future Ontario Line 3 will be a short walking distance from the redevelopment, while a block from the building, TTC streetcars ply both Spadina Avenue and Queen Street.
The changes to particulars of the plan should mean that the final order will soon be given by the OLT, and that this development should be able to go proceed.
We will return as additional information about the project becomes available. In the meantime, project facts and renderings can be found in the 450 Richmond West database file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.
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| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, Bousfields, Counterpoint Engineering, Ferris + Associates Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, LEA Consulting |
