Item - 2023.PB8.2

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 350 Bloor Street East under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 350 Bloor Street East (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (July 5, 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 property at 350 Bloor Street East under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value for its design, associative and contextual values.

Located at the northeast corner of Bloor Street East and the access ramp to Mount Pleasant Road, the property at 350 Bloor Street East contains a six-storey office building plus a single-storey mechanical penthouse above and partially exposed basement level below. The Modernist building is built into the upper portion of the Rosedale Ravine’s south embankment and features an identical expression on its principal south, west and north elevations with its flat roof and precast concrete cladding that creates wedge-shaped columns and deep inset window openings hovering above a recessed, transparent base.

The property was built in 1968-1970 to the designs of renowned Modernist architect, John C. Parkin, who is described as “one of Canada’s architectural pioneers, hacking out of Toronto’s intricate thicket of late-Victorian Englishry a secure niche for the bold, utopian design of the international movement.” Parkin also designed 50 Park Road (Ontario Association of Architects Building, 1954), 1150 Eglinton Avenue East (IBM Headquarters, 1968-1971), 200 University Avenue (Sun Life Building, 1958-1961) and as consulting architect at 100 Queen Street West (Toronto City Hall, 1959-1964).

The property was identified as a property of potential cultural heritage value in the Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment undertaken in conjunction with the City-initiated Bloor-Yorkville Secondary Plan study (2021).

On August 30, 2022, the City received Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment application related to the proposed redevelopment of the subject property (File No. 22 172660 STE 11 OZ). The proposal seeks to permit a 63-storey mixed-use building on the subject site containing 675 new dwelling units that incorporates the south, west and north elevations of the existing building.

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. The subject property did not have heritage status at the time of writing this report; however, a Cultural Heritage Evaluation Report (CHER) completed by ERA Architects Inc. and dated June 22, 2022 was submitted to support the application.

The property is partially located within the Ravine and Natural Feature Protection By-law and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Regulation Limit, as well as the Natural Heritage System in the City’s Official Plan (OP).

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 Planning Act applications that would trigger a Prescribed Event. 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.

A "Prescribed Event" is a point of time when the application for an Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment and / or Draft Plan of Subdivision Application has been deemed complete and the City Clerk provides notice of that complete application to the public in accordance with the Planning Act. 

The City Clerk issued a complete application notice on September 9, 2022. The property owner has provided a waiver to extend the 90-day timeline established under Bill 108 through August 4, 2023. As such, City Council would need to make a decision at its July 19-21, 2023 meeting to provide sufficient time for City Clerk to issue a notice of intention to designate before the waiver expires.

On November 28, 2022, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Bill 23) received Royal Assent. Schedule 6 of the More Homes Built Faster Act amended prescribed event requirements under Section 29 (1.2) of the Ontario Heritage Act and came into effect on January 1, 2023.

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. This requirement does not apply to a Prescribed Event that has occurred prior to January 1, 2023.

The application currently under review was deemed complete prior to Bill 23 changes to the Ontario Heritage Act coming into force, however, the Part IV designation must be in compliance with the Province's amended O. Reg. 9/06 under the Ontario Heritage Act, which takes effect as of January 1, 2023. The revised regulation establishes nine provincial criteria for determining whether a property is of cultural heritage value or interest.

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. The property meets four criteria relating to design / physical, historical / associative and contextual values.

Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.