Item - 2012.TE12.52

The Toronto and East York Community Council directed that:

1.         Staff schedule a community consultation meeting for the lands at 60 Mill Street together with the Ward Councillor.

2.         Notice for the community consultation meeting be given to landowners and residents within 120 metres of the site, and to additional residents and owners to be determined in consultation with the Ward Councillor, with any additional mailing costs to be borne by the applicant.

3.         Notice for the public meeting under the Planning Act be given according to the regulations under the Planning Act.

4.         The applicant submit a detailed 3D visual analysis of the area with both pedestrian and view corridor assessments of the subject property, as well as modelling depicting the anticipated build-out of the entire Distillery District.

This application proposes a 34-storey mixed-use building at 60 Mill Street, involving the retention of the heritage-designated six-storey 'Rack House D' Building with a 28-storey point tower above.  An 88-suite hotel is contemplated as an adaptive re-use of the Rack House building, with 246 residential condominium units proposed in the tower.  The ground floor is proposed for restaurant uses, while amenity space for the hotel/condominium would be in below-grade space and the seventh floor above the hotel.  Parking is proposed to be secured through an off-site lease for 166 spaces.  Total height for the building is 108 metres to the roof line, 118 metres to the top of the mechanical penthouse.

This report provides preliminary information on the above-noted applications and seeks Community Council's directions on further processing of the applications and on the community consultation process.

Staff recommend that a community consultation meeting be held in early January, consisting of a public open house/information meeting for the public to review the applicant’s submission, and ask questions of City staff and the applicant.  Also proposed is a presentation before the City's Design Review Panel in early 2012.  It is anticipated that a final report on the application will be submitted to Community Council for consideration in mid-2012.  These target dates assume that the applicant will provide all required information in a timely manner.

The height and density proposed in this application are a significant departure from what was originally outlined in the original Gooderham & Worts Heritage Master Plan, as well as the King-Parliament Secondary Plan, neither of which contemplated any additions above the existing Rack House D building.  Over the course of the review of this application careful consideration of the impacts of this proposal on the integrity of the historic core of the Distillery District, as well as the existing and planned built form immediately to the north and east, will be required.  After a preliminary analysis of the application, it is unclear as to what necessitates such a deviation from the plan.  There is a significant possibility that upon final consideration of the cumulative impacts that this application presents, a final report recommending refusal of this scheme or directing substantial modification, will be issued.