Item - 2016.TE16.8

This application proposes to amend the former City of Toronto Zoning By-law 438-86 to permit the redevelopment of 401-415 King Street West, with a 56-storey mixed use building including a 12-storey and 13-storey base building with two floors of retail uses and residential above.  The project is proposed to contain 615 dwelling units and 2,452 square metres of commercial space with 221 parking spaces and 656 bicycle parking spaces.  The proposed building height is 181 metres (187 metres including the mechanical penthouse).  The total gross floor area would be 48,214 square metres.  The density would be 22.9 times the area of the lot.

The owner of the site at 401-415 King Street West has appealed its Zoning By-law Amendment application to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) citing Council's failure to make a decision within the time required by the Planning Act.  A pre-hearing conference has been scheduled for July 14, 2016.  A full hearing has not yet been scheduled.

The proposal is not supportable in its current form.  The proposed tower and base building represent an overdevelopment of the site and would create an unacceptable form of development.  The proposed tower would not conform with Official Plan built form or heritage policies and does not satisfactorily respond to urban design guidelines related to the built form.

In particular:

-  the 56-storey tower height is excessive and out of context (the tallest tower proposed in the King-Spadina Secondary Plan area aside from the Mirvish/Gehery towers);

-  tower setbacks fail to meet minimum setback requirements;

-  podium massing fails to transition appropriately to adjacent developments and is out of scale with King Street West;

-  the proposed building fails to provide adequate space for the three dimensional presentation of the retained heritage frontages as part of the proposed building;

-  inadequate public realm (sidewalk) widths;

-  there is a lack of family sized units;

-  there is a shortfall in required indoor and outdoor amenity space;

-  there are an insufficient number of vehicular parking spaces;

-  the proposal represents an over development of the site.

The purpose of this report is to seek City Council's direction for the City Solicitor and appropriate City Staff to attend the Ontario Municipal Board hearing in opposition to the applicant's development proposal and appeal.