Item - 2021.RA27.4

The Board of Directors of CreateTO:

1.  Endorsed the business case for 150 Queens Wharf Road as presented in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (November 5, 2021) from the Vice President, Development, CreateTO, and subject to further approvals required by the Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services, the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, directed CreateTO management to:

a.  Release to market 150 Queens Wharf Road in the first quarter of 2022, including entering into agreements conditional on approval by relevant City authorities.

b.  Retain the services of a fairness monitor to oversee and ensure an open, fair and transparent market offering process.

2.  Authorized the public release of the information in Confidential Attachments 1 and 2 to the report (November 5, 2021) from the Vice President, Development, CreateTO following the completion of the transactions contemplated in the business case and at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO.

The Board of Directors of CreateTO recessed its public session to meet in closed session to consider the item as it pertains to a proposed or pending disposition of land by the City, and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the City.

This report recommends that the CreateTO Board of Directors endorse the business case and market offering for the Phase 2 Housing Now site located at 150 Queens Wharf Road.

This 0.38 acre site is currently vacant land and represents the last remaining undeveloped site in the railway lands. The site is located on the north side of Fort York Boulevard, south of the Union Station Rail Corridor and east of Bathurst Street. Immediately west of the subject site is the future Lower Garrison Creek Park.

The site is within easy walking distance of both surface transit and cycling networks. The 150 Queens Wharf Road development will further benefit from Metrolinx’s planned Spadina-Front Station, a part of their GO Regional Express Rail Expansion Program as a new stop on the GO Transit Barrie line, to be located at the southwest corner of Front Street and Spadina Avenue.

CreateTO staff retained a consultant team to prepare the requisite due diligence work including a development concept for this site in order to advance the City-initiated rezoning and market offering process. CreateTO staff worked with City staff including City Planning, the Housing Secretariat, the local Councillor, and the local community in order to gain consensus on a development concept.

The final development concept includes a 29-storey building with a total of 282 residential units and a minimum of 3,229 square feet of non-residential space on the ground floor designated for an EarlyON center. The built form has been designed to maximize the opportunity for new market and affordable rental housing on the site. The concept animates the site enhancing the public realm and allowing for a pedestrian connection from Queens Wharf Road to the future Lower Garrison Creek Park.

The intent is to bring this site to market in Q1 2022 to the non-profit housing community through the Housing Secretariat. Following the market offering process, CreateTO staff will report to the CreateTO Board on the proponent selection, prior to the Housing Secretariat finalizing legal agreements.