Item - 2022.PB31.3

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Toronto and East York Community Council that:

1. City Council approve the alterations to the heritage property at 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East, in accordance with Section 33 of the Ontario Heritage Act, to allow for the construction of three towers with heights of 79, 87, and 90 storeys atop the LCBO office building and a portion of the warehouse building on the lands known municipally in 2022 as 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East, with such alterations substantially in accordance with plans and drawings dated August 20, 2021, prepared by architectsAlliance and on file with the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; and the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), prepared by Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, dated September 15, 2021 and on file with the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning all subject to and in accordance with a Conservation Plan satisfactory to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning and subject to the following additional conditions:

a. That prior to final Site Plan approval for the proposal, for the property located at 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East the owner shall:

1. Enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement with the City for the property at 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East in accordance with the plans and drawings dated August 20, 2021, prepared by architectsAlliance and on file with the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning the Heritage Impact Assessment prepared by Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, dated September 15, 2021, and in accordance with the Conservation Plan required in Recommendation 1.a.2 below, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning including registration of such agreement to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor.

2. Provide a detailed Conservation Plan, prepared by a qualified heritage consultant that is consistent with the conservation strategy set out in the Heritage Impact Assessment for 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East prepared by Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, dated September 15, 2021, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

3. Provide final Site Plan drawings substantially in accordance with the approved Conservation Plan required in Recommendation 1.a.2 to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

4. Provide a Heritage Lighting Plan that describes how the exterior of the heritage property will be sensitively illuminated to enhance its heritage character to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning and thereafter shall implement such Plan to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

5. Provide a detailed landscape plan for the subject property, satisfactory to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

6. Provide an Interpretation Plan for the subject property, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning and thereafter shall implement such Plan to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

7. Submit a Signage Plan for the subject property to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

b. That prior to the issuance of any permit for all or any part of the property at 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East, including a heritage permit or a building permit, but excluding permits for repairs and maintenance and usual and minor works for the existing heritage building as are acceptable to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning the owner shall:

1. Provide building permit drawings, including notes and specifications for the conservation and protective measures keyed to the approved Conservation Plan required in Recommendation 1.a.2 above, including a description of materials and finishes, to be prepared by the project architect and a qualified heritage consultant to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2. Provide a Letter of Credit, including provision for upwards indexing, in a form and amount and from a bank satisfactory to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning to secure all work included in the approved Conservation Plan, Heritage Lighting Plan and Interpretation Plan.

3. Provide full documentation of the existing heritage property, including two (2) printed sets of archival quality 8” x 10” colour photographs with borders in a glossy or semi-gloss finish and one (1) digital set on a USB flash drive in tiff format and 600 dpi resolution keyed to a location map, elevations and measured drawings, and copies of all existing interior floor plans and original drawings as may be available, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

c. That prior to the release of the Letter of Credit required in Recommendation 1.b.2 above, the owner shall:

1. Provide a letter of substantial completion prepared and signed by a qualified heritage consultant confirming that the required conservation work and the required interpretive work has been completed in accordance with the Conservation Plan, Heritage Lighting Plan and Interpretation Plan and that an appropriate standard of conservation has been maintained, all to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning .

2. Provide replacement Heritage Easement Agreement photographs to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2. City Council authorize the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement under Section 37 of the Ontario Heritage Act with the owner of 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East in a form and content satisfactory to the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary Bill in Council authorizing the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement for the property at 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East.

Kristen Flood, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on Alterations to a Heritage Property and Authority to Enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement - 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East.

This report recommends that City Council approve the alterations proposed for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) complex (designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act) in connection with the development of the subject property. The development was approved by the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT) in 2018 and is now the subject of an application for site plan approval under the Planning Act.

The property contains buff brick purpose-built office and warehouse buildings that are four and three-storeys and connected through an overhead bridge. They were built for the LCBO in 1950 and are a rare example of a provincial headquarters and commercial and industrial complex. They were designed with a high degree of craftsmanship in the Modern style by the architectural partnership of Mathers and Haldenby and are associated with the post-World War II transformation of Toronto's harbour and waterfront.

The development application proposes three towers with heights of 79, 87, and 90 storeys that incorporate the LCBO office building and a portion of the warehouse building as the base. The retained portions of the LCBO complex are proposed to be restored with minor modifications to support the new interior programming. The proposed alterations conserve the onsite and adjacent heritage buildings and are consistent with the policy framework. The heritage impacts of the development proposal are appropriately mitigated through the overall conservation strategy.