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Numbered Ontario company 699147 Ontario Inc. submitted an application to the City of Toronto in early August for Minor Variance to permit a new mid-rise residential development at 203 through 209 Dundas Street West.
The Downtown site is located just east of the southeast corner of Dundas Street West and University Avenue. It has a total lot area of 290m² and has 17 metres of frontage along Dundas with a lot depth of 23 metres. It is currently occupied by a 2-storey commercial building flanked by 2-storey retail and a 5-storey office building.
For the site, TAES Architect Inc. has designed an L-shaped 12-storey mixed-use building with retail uses at grade and residential units above. By the numbers, the development includes a total residential gross floor area of 2,370 m² and non-residential GFA of 106m², for a combined total GFA of 2,477m², resulting in a net density of 8.55 FSI on the lot.
Two retail-at-grade units would occupy the bulk of the Dundas Street frontage, with a discreet entrance to a compact residential lobby to the side. The building would house a total of 30 dwelling units (3 units per floor), supported by two elevators. At the rooftop level, residents would have access to 40 m² indoor amenity space that opens out onto an 85 m²outdoor amenity space.
Given the proximity of the site to existing transit infrastructure and Bike Share facilities, zero resident or visitor parking spaces are proposed. However, 32 bicycle parking spaces are included in the basement, plus 6 short-term along Dundas Street.
According to the proponents, “All variances are minor in nature as these requests sought after are not drastic or vary greatly from what is currently permitted.” (e.g. the proposed FSI is 8.55 times the lot area whereas the permitted maximum is 7.8). “The proposed development is consistent with the goals of Provincial Policies and the City of Toronto Official Plan to intensify and efficiently use mixed-use lands to optimize the proposal.”
Toronto's Committee of Adjustment would have to agree with the proponent's characterization of the necessary zoning amendments as minor for them to further evaluate and approve the application. If they do not agree that the necessary amendments are minor, then the proponents would have to go through the normal, full rezoning process.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, 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: | MHBC Planning, TAES Architect Inc. |
