Item - 2022.PB37.8

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1.  City Council state its intention to designate the property at 229 Queen Street East (entrance address at 227 Queen Street East) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance; 229 Queen Street East (Reasons for Designation) included as Attachment 3, to the report (August 3, 2022) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2.  City Council state its intention to designate the properties at 120 Sherbourne Street (entrance address at 52 Britain Street) and 122 Sherbourne Street under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance; 120-122 Sherbourne Street (Reasons for Designation) included as Attachment 4, to the report (August 3 2022) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

3.  If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the properties at 229 Queen Street East and 120-122 Sherbourne Street under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for their cultural heritage value. 

Anchoring the southwest corner of Queen Street East and Sherbourne Street within the Moss Park neighbourhood, the property at 229 Queen Street East contains a three-storey hotel building historically known as the Kormann House Hotel completed in 1897. Many residents may better know the property by its more recent name, Canada House Hotel or Tavern, which it maintained for nearly 80 years before finally closing its doors in the early 1990s.

The adjacent properties to the south at 120-122 Sherbourne Street contain three-storey main street commercial row buildings located at the northwest corner of Sherbourne and Britain streets that were completed in 1892. These Victorian-era brick buildings maintain the scale, form, massing and materiality of this section of Queen Street East, particularly between Mutual Street and Seaton Street.

Located on the north edge of the King-Parliament Secondary Plan Area, which contains the original boundaries of the1793 Town of York, these properties together anchor the important historical intersection of Queen Street and Sherbourne Street,where they define and support the character of the area as it represents the late-19th century development of the neighbourhood with commercial/residential and industrial buildings and consistent urban street walls.

The former Kormann House Hotel located at 229 Queen Street East was listed on the City's Heritage Register in 2007 and the adjacent properties at 120-122 Sherbourne Street were identified through the King-Parliament Secondary Plan Review (2019), are included in the King-Parliament Historic Context Statement and were included on the City's Heritage Register in 2020.

Staff have completed the Research and Evaluation Report for the properties at 229 Queen Street East and 120-122 Sherbourne Street and determined that the properties meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act under all three categories of design, associative and contextual value. As such, the properties are significant built heritage resources.

In June 2019, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (Bill 108) received Royal Assent. Schedule 11 of this Act included amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act. The Bill 108 Amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act came into force on July 1, 2021, which included a shift in Part IV designations related to certain Planning Act applications. Section 29(1.2) of the Ontario Heritage Act now restricts City Council's ability to give notice of its intention to designate a property under the Act to within 90 days after the City Clerk gives notice of a complete application.

The City Clerk issued a complete application notice on January 21, 2022 for a November 7, 2021 Zoning By-law Amendment development application to facilitate the redevelopment of the site for a 31-storey mixed-use building with ground floor retail uses and 340 residential dwelling units. A waiver submitted to the City by the applicant requires that this Notice of Intention to Designate report must be considered by City Council before August 30, 2022.

A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) completed by ERA Architects Inc. and dated November 16, 2021 was submitted to support the application.  A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) is required for all development applications that affect listed and designated properties and will be considered when determining how a heritage property is to be conserved. Designation also enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.