Item - 2023.PB11.1

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Planning and Housing Committee that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the properties at 699 and 707 Yonge Street under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance; 699 and 707 Yonge Street (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (October 16, 2023) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2. 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 699 Yonge Street (including entrance address at 701 Yonge Street) and 707 Yonge Street (including entrance addresses at 703 and 705 Yonge Street, and 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 Hayden Street) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for their cultural heritage value according to the Statement of Significance and description of Heritage Attributes found in Attachment 3.

Located on the east side of Yonge Street south of Hayden Street, the properties at

699 and 707 Yonge Street contain a 3-storey brick row building constructed in 1887. The row originally featured four commercial units divided into two pairs by a parapet firewall along the present-day property line between 699 and 707 Yonge Street.

The Brass Rail Tavern has operated at 699 Yonge Street since 1948. Both halves of the commercial row at 699 and 707 Yonge Street have been over-clad, obscuring the original brick walls underneath.  

The subject properties were listed on the Heritage Register in March 2016 and are included in the Historic Yonge Heritage Conservation District, which is currently under appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Staff have determined that the properties at 699 and 707 Yonge Street meet Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act under design / physical and contextual values. A property may be designated under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, if it meets two or more of the nine criteria.

In September 2022, the City received Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Control applications related to the proposed redevelopment of the subject properties. The proposed development would retain and restore the 3-storey brick façade of the row building corresponding to entrances at 699-705 Yonge Street (which is currently over-clad) as part of the podium of the tower and would demolish two other structures located within the development site.

The City Clerk issued a complete application notice for the Zoning By-law Amendment on June 30, 2023. The applicant has provided a waiver to extend the 90-day timeline established under Bill 108 through February 1, 2024. At the time of this report, there is no confirmed date for a Toronto Preservation Board meeting in January 2024; therefore, City Council must make a decision at its December 13-15, 2023, meeting to ensure sufficient time is provided for the City Clerk to issue a notice of intention to designate within the prescribed timeline.

As of January 1, 2023, should a property be subject to an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and / or Draft Plan of Subdivision Application that would trigger a Prescribed Event, the property must be listed in the heritage register prior to the Prescribed Event occurring to designate a property under Section 29(1.2)1 of the Ontario Heritage Act. This requirement does not apply to a Prescribed Event that has occurred prior to January 1, 2023.