Item - 2022.TE34.48

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1.  City Council amend Zoning By-law 569-2013 for the lands at 333-351 King Street East and 200 Front Street East substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment attached as Attachment 7 to the report (June 15, 2022) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District.

2.  City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments as may be required.

3.  City Council require the owner to enter into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and the City Solicitor, in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor to secure the following:

a. Community benefits:

i. Prior to issuance of any first above-grade building permit, the Owner shall elect to provide one of the following:

A. prior to the issuance of the first above-grade building permit for any building on the Subject Site, the owner shall pay a cash contribution of five million dollars ($5,000,000) to be allocated as follows:

1. $1,666,666.67 towards new and/or existing affordable housing within Ward 13, in consultation with the Ward Councillor;

2. $1,666,666.67 towards local area park or streetscape improvements located within Ward 13 and within the vicinity of the subject lands, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the Ward Councillor, the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and the General Manager, Transportation Services; and

3.    $1,666,666.67towards community, cultural or recreational facilities capital improvements within Ward 13, in consultation with the Ward Councillor; OR

B. the provision of a non-profit licensed Child Care Centre to be located in the base building of the Central Office Tower on the lands, comprising a minimum of 942 square metres of interior space and approximately 308 square metres of exterior space adjacent to the interior space, including outdoor storage, and the provision for a child pick-up and drop-off area, with the precise location, capacity and related matters to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in consultation with the General Manager, Children Services and such Child Care Centre shall generally be in accordance with the following:

1. shall be constructed, finished, furnished and equipped by the owner, including a minimum of five (5) parking spaces for the use of the Child Care Centre for pick-up/drop-off operations with two (2) to three (3) spaces dedicated for staff and visitors. These spaces to be assigned accordingly, and their location will be identified through the site plan approval process for the development, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the General Manager, Children's Services;

2.    prior to the issuance of any above grade building permit for any portion of the lands, a letter of credit in the amount sufficient to guarantee 120% of the estimated cost of the design, construction and handover of the Child Care Centre, indexed upwardly and calculated from the date City Council adopts the zoning bylaw amendment, complying with the specifications and requirements of the Section 37 Agreement, shall be provided to the City to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Children's Services and the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer;

3. prior to the earlier of occupancy of the building in which the Child Care Centre is located and/or registration of any condominium for the building in which the Child Care Centre is located, the Child Care Centre shall be conveyed to the City, at no cost to the City, in fee simple, in an acceptable environmental condition to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Corporate and Real Estate Management and City Solicitor;

4. the details of the other matters as described in these Recommendations, such as timing, location, obligations (including financial obligations), and any such matters to implement the Child Care Centre, in respect of the non-profit licensed Child Care Centre community benefit will be finalized between the owner and the City and will be substantially in accordance with the City of Toronto's Child Care Development Guidelines (2021) and to the satisfaction of the Executive Director, Corporate and Real Estate Management, the General Manager, Children's Services, and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the City Solicitor; and

5. on, or prior to, the conveyance of the Child Care Centre, the City and the owner enter into, and register on title to, the appropriate lands an Easement and Shared Facilities Agreement for nominal consideration and at no cost to the City, that is in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor; the Easement and Shared Facilities Agreement shall address and/or provide for the integrated support, use, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement and reconstruction of certain shared facilities, and the sharing of costs, in respect thereof, of portions of the subject lands to be owned by the City and the owner as they pertain to the Child Care Centre, and the development to be constructed within the base building of the development;

6. prior to the conveyance of the Child Care Centre, the owner shall provide one-time cash contributions in support of the Child Care Centre, allocated generally as follows:

a. a one-time cash contribution in the amount of $250,000.00 to the City's Child Care Capital Reserve Fund to be used towards Start-Up Operating Costs, to replace appliances and large equipment due to wear and tear, and to support ongoing financial viability, to be paid prior to the child care facility being made available to the City;

b. a one-time cash contribution in the amount of $250,000.00 to the future child care operator towards toys, furnishing and equipment in accordance with provincial and municipal standards based on a mutually agreeable inventory list provided by the Child Care Centre Operator and/or the General Manager, Children's Services, which will be finalized and approved by the General Manager of Children's Services;

ii The financial contributions pursuant to Recommendations 3.a.i.A., 3.a.i.B.6.a. and 3.a.i.B.6.b above shall be indexed upwardly in accordance with the Statistics Canada Non-Residential Building Construction Price Index for Toronto, calculated from the date City Council adopts the zoning by-law amendment(s) to the date of payment; and

iii. streetscape improvements on Front Street East not adjacent to the Subject Site, generally as shown in the drawing titled "Final Layout Plan" attached as Attachment No. 1 to the report (December 14, 2021) from the Director, Planning and Capital Program, Transportation Services, and attached as Attachment No. 8 to the report (June 15, 2022) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District, with the details of such improvements (including the location, dimensions, configuration and design) to be secured as part of and through the Site Plan Approval process for the Development to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division and the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Ward Councillor in accordance with the following:

iii.   a letter of credit in the amount of $2,000,000, indexed upwardly and calculated from the date City Council adopts the zoning by-law amendment, shall be provided to the City prior to the first above-grade building permit with such improvements to be completed prior to occupancy or as otherwise agreed to by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division with any unused funds allocated towards capital facilities in the vicinity of the site at the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in consultation with the Ward Councillor ;

b. Matters of legal convenience to support the development:

i.   The owner shall:

A.  construct, provide and maintain, at its own expense, two Privately-Owned and Publicly-Accessible Spaces ("POPS") on 333-351 King Street East and 200 Front Street East with minimum areas of 1,100 square metres and 400 square metres and fronting onto Front Street East with the specific location, configuration and design to be determined and secured in the context of Site Plan Approval to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and

B. prepare all documents and convey, free and clear of encumbrances and for nominal consideration, a public access easement, including support rights, in perpetuity in favour of the City over the Privately-Owned and Publicly-Accessible Spaces ("POPS"), on terms set out in the Section 37 Agreement, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor;

ii.   The owner shall alter, at no cost to the City, the portion of the Front Street East right-of-way adjacent to the Subject Site, generally as shown in the drawing titled "Final Layout Plan" attached as Attachment No. 1 to the report (December 14, 2021) from the Director, Planning and Capital Program, Transportation Services, and attached as Attachment No. 8 to the report (June 15, 2022) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District, with the details of such improvements (including the location, dimensions, configuration and design) to be secured as part of and through the Site Plan Approval process for the Development to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division and the General Manager, Transportation Services;

iii.  The owner shall submit a comprehensive Construction Management Plan for each stage of the construction process, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services, the Chief Building Official and Executive Director, Toronto Building and the Ward Councillor. The Construction Management Plan will include, but not be limited to the following construction-related details: noise, dust, size and location of staging areas, location and function of gates, dates of significant concrete pouring, lighting details, vehicular parking and queuing locations, street closures, parking and access, refuse storage, site security, site supervisor contact information, and a communication strategy with the surrounding community, and any other matters requested by the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Ward Councillor;

iv.  Prior to site plan approval the owner shall submit documentation and financial contributions/payments in the form of a letter of credit or certified cheques (overall amount to be determined) for the implementation of a Transportation Demand Management ("TDM") plan to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Transportation Services. These provisions include, but are not limited to:

A.  A payment of $50,000 for a new bike-share station on-site;

B.  A minimum of five (5) car-share spaces on-site;

C.  One (1) bike-share membership per unit, offered for the first year of occupancy;

D.  One (1) car-share membership per residential unit, offered for the first year of occupancy;

E.  A minimum of two (2) bike repair stations provided on-site; and

F.  Non-residential parking spaces provided beyond the minimum requirement are to include a combination of electric vehicle, carpooling and/or car-share parking spaces;

iii. The owner shall design and submitfinancial securities for any upgrades or required improvements to the existing municipal infrastructure and/or new municipal infrastructure identified in the accepted Engineering Reports to support the development, all to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, should it be determined that improvements or upgrades and/or new infrastructure are required to support the development;

iv.  The owner will construct and maintain the development of the site in accordance with Tier 1 of the Toronto Green Standard, and the owner will be encouraged to achieve Tier 2 or higher of the Toronto Green Standard;

c. Withdraw its appeal of Official Plan Amendment 352, being the Downtown Tall Buildings Setback Area Specific Policy, and the associated Zoning By-laws 1106-2016 and 1107-2016, as they relate to the subject lands; and

d. Withdraw its appeal of Official Plan Amendment 525, being the King-Parliament Secondary Plan, and the associated Zoning By-law 393-2021, as they relate to the subject lands.

6. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to submit the necessary bills to implement the foregoing recommendations provided the City Solicitor is satisfied that the appropriate legal mechanisms are in place to ensure that no building permit will issue until such time as the Section 37 Agreement is executed and registered.

7. City Council authorize appropriate City Officials to take such actions as are required to implement City Council's decision, including the execution and implementation of the Section 37 Agreement.

The Toronto and East York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on June 30, 2022 and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

This report review and recommends approval of the application to amend the Zoning By-law to permit two new buildings on the site at 333-351 King Street East and 200 Front Street East. The proposed development includes a 37-storey residential building (140 metres tall, including mechanical penthouse) on the west side of the site and a 28-storey office building (127 metres tall, including mechanical penthouse) in the centre of the site. The lower level of the new office building would replace some of the existing retail uses fronting on Front Street East. The existing Globe and Mail Centre, Coca-Cola/George Brown building and existing buildings fronting on King Street East would remain in place. The proposal also includes two privately owned publicly-accessible spaces fronting onto Front Street East, and a child care facility with outdoor space on the second floor of the proposed office building.