Item - 2024.TE15.5

The Toronto and East York Community Council recommends that:

1. City Council amend the former City of Toronto Zoning By-law 438-86, as amended by By-law 1049-2006 for the lands at 257-259 and 291 Lake Shore Boulevard East, 2 Small Street and 200 Queens Quay East substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment included as Attachment 7 to the report (June 21, 2024) 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 Zoning By-law Amendment as may be required.

3. City Council require the owner to enter into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act (as it read the day before the date Section 1 of Schedule 17 of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, came into force) to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor, to secure the following community benefits:

Affordable Housing

a. to secure the provision of a minimum of 20 percent of all residential gross floor area of the proposed development for affordable rental units through a dedication to the City of sufficient land, which for clarity may be stratified for the purpose of constructing the new affordable rental units on the lot to be owned by the City, to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat;

b. to secure the provision of not less than 996 square metres of new affordable rental units in addition to the requirement in Recommendation 3.a. above, through a dedication to the City of sufficient land which may be stratified for the purpose of constructing the new affordable rental units on the lot;

c. prior to the earlier of issuance of Notice of Approval Conditions for the Site Plan application or first building permit for each building on the site, the owner shall provide an affordable housing report identifying the provision of land within the subject building, subject to the confirmation of funding for the construction of units within the subject building, or in the absence of confirmation of funding, the provision of land within the site to satisfy the affordable housing obligations, all to be accepted by and to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat; for clarity, such report may apply to one or more buildings within the site;

d. the provision of land to fulfill the affordable housing obligations shall be provided on a timely basis to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in accordance with the following principles:

1. where land is provided as a stratified parcel within a market residential building as reflected in the accepted affordable housing report, and funding has been committed to construct affordable housing units within that building, the affordable housing units will be delivered commensurate with the market units within the building;

2. where land is not being provided within a market building, the owner shall identify the provision of land elsewhere on the site to satisfy the affordable housing obligations for that market building;

3. where the accepted affordable housing report for a market residential building identifies that land will be provided elsewhere on the site, a Section 118 Restriction under the Land Titles Act, agreeing not to transfer or charge any part of the lands without prior written consent of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, or their designate, may be required to be registered on the lands identified to be conveyed to the City, to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor;

4. depending on the timing of funding being secured, delivery of land for affordable housing may not be fully commensurate with the rate of market residential construction, provided that the ultimate delivery of the land is satisfactorily secured to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat; and

5. the Section 37 Agreement may include provisions regarding the order of development of residential buildings within the site;

e. to secure the provision of a minimum five (5) percent of residential gross floor area of the proposed development for low-end-of-market housing, subject to the availability of funding and to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat;

f. any development containing ownership dwelling units shall provide not less than five (5) percent of all ownership dwelling units with the following size restrictions:

1. a maximum residential gross floor area of 46.5 square metres for bachelor dwelling units;

2. a maximum residential gross floor area of 60.4 square metres for a one-bedroom dwelling unit;

3. a maximum residential gross floor area of 79 square metres for two-bedroom dwelling units; and

4. a maximum residential gross floor area of 93 square metres for three-bedroom dwelling units;

Local Infrastructure Improvements

g. to secure the provision of local infrastructure improvements through one or a combination of the following: 

1. to provide a contribution of $69.86 per square metre of residential gross floor area towards local infrastructure improvements, to be paid prior to the issuance of the first above-grade building permit for the lot or for the portion of the lot being developed; and

2. to undertake local infrastructure improvements in lieu of part or all of the contribution set out in Recommendation 3.g.1. above, the value of which is to be determined by the City;

Community Benefits

h.  an indexed cash contribution of $5,000,000 to be paid or secured as noted below in the Section 37 Agreement; the total amounts are indexed upwardly in accordance with the Statistics Canada Non-Residential Construction Price Index for Toronto, calculated from the date of the Section 37 Agreement to the date of payments and is detailed as follows:

1. the owner shall provide an indexed cash contribution to the City in the amount of $5,000,000, with the details including timing triggers to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement, to be allocated toward the capital costs of off-site non-profit child care facilities in Quayside Blocks 3-5 or another appropriate location in the Keating Channel West Precinct to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and 

2. in the event that the cash contribution referred to in Recommendation 3.h.1. above, has not been used for the intended purpose within 5 years of this By-law coming into force and effect, the cash contribution may be redirected for another purpose, at the discretion of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, in consultation with the local Councillor, provided that the purposes are identified in the Toronto Official Plan and will benefit the community in the vicinity of the lands; and

Other Matters

i. the following matters are also recommended to be secured in the Section 37 Agreement as matters of legal convenience to support the development:

1. the owner shall, at its own expense, design, construct, provide easements for public use of and thereafter maintain on terms set out in the Section 37 Agreement the Privately-Owned Publicly Accessible Spaces as generally illustrated on Map 7 of  Attachment 7 to the report (June 21, 2024) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District, having a minimum area of 4100 square metres, with the location, configuration and design to be determined and secured in the context of site plan approval all to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning;

2. the owner will agree at the time of Site Plan Approval to grant to the City a minimum three (3) metre pedestrian easement for each pedestrian connection as generally shown on Map 7 of Attachment 7 to the report (June 21, 2024) from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District;

3. prior to the issuance of Notice of Approval Conditions for the first development on the lot, City Council shall endorse Urban Design Guidelines for all of the lands within the Quayside development;

4. prior to the issuance of any Building Permit in Development Blocks 1C and 2, including a permit for excavation and shoring, the applicant shall retain a consultant archaeologist, licensed by the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, under the provisions of the Ontario Heritage Act, to carry out a program of Archaeological Monitoring for any subgrade disturbance, in accordance with the Archaeological Memorandum prepared by Archeological Services, Inc., dated June 9, 2023, and the Archaeological Monitoring and Mitigation Strategy prepared by Archeological Services, Inc., dated January 18, 2024;

5. the consultant archaeologist shall submit a copy of the relevant assessment report(s) to the Heritage Planning Unit as an Acrobat pdf file;

6. significant archaeological resources and findings will be incorporated into the proposed development through either in situ preservation and interpretation where feasible or will be commemorated and interpreted through exhibition development on site including, but not limited to, commemorative plaquing;

7. the owner shall, at the time of Site Plan Approval for each phase of development on the lot, complete wind tunnel testing and implementation of any identified mitigation measures to the satisfaction of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

8. in addition to the requirements of the Toronto Green Standard version applicable at the time of the complete site plan application for each building on the lot, the owner shall provide sustainable development measures that, in the opinion of the City, would achieve the Canada Green Building Council Zero Carbon Building Standard (Design) Version 3 or later, as an alternative compliance pathway to Toronto Green Standard Tier 2 energy and emissions performance as outlined in the City of Toronto Energy Modelling Guidelines, or an acceptable provision of alternative sustainable development measures as may be approved by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning; and

9. if requested at the time of Site Plan Approval, the owner shall provide a five (5) metre wide easement from the outermost edge of the F.G. Gardiner Expressway consistent with the City of Toronto Municipal Consent requirements – Appendix S – Third Party Work in the Vicinity of City Bridge Structures, to the satisfaction of Transportation Services and Engineering and Construction Services.

4. City Council, in coordination with Waterfront Toronto and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, endorse the Quayside development in principle and City Council request the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to identify Quayside as a Priority Project on Attachment 3 of the Protocol for the Lower Don Special Policy Area to enable Official Plan policies for Blocks 3-5 of the Quayside development which overlap with the Lower Don Special Policy Area to be considered by City Council.

5. City Council authorize the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and City staff to take any necessary steps to implement City Council's decision.

The Toronto and East York Community Council held a statutory public meeting on July 10, 2024 and notice was given in accordance with the Planning Act.

This application proposes to amend former City of Toronto Zoning By-law 438-86, as amended by By-law 1049-2006, to permit the development of the first two blocks of the Quayside proposal, at 257-259 and 291 Lake Shore Boulevard East, 2 Small Street, and 200 Queens Quay East.  The amendment would build on the approved master planning and implementing zoning for East Bayfront - West Precinct, increasing the permitted density and allowing for three mixed use towers of 70, 64 and 55 storeys, fronting on to Lake Shore Boulevard East and a linear 12-storey building fronting Queens Quay East. The applicant, Quayside Impact Limited Partnership, are the development partners of Waterfront Toronto for these lands.

The proposed Zoning By-law would permit 193,650 square metres of mixed-use development with up to 180,000 square metres of residential floor area, including 36,996 square metres of affordable rental housing (approximately 2,811 total residential units, including 458 affordable rental units). The proposal includes institutional, retail and community uses including a child care facility and a central Privately-Owned Publicly Accessible Space (POPS).

The applicant will provide the land and construct the affordable rental housing component while the City is responsible for securing the required funding. On completion, the affordable rental housing units will be conveyed to the City and will remain affordable in perpetuity. These units will meet the City's Official Plan definition of affordable rental housing and will include a mix of unit types, including three- and four-bedroom units.

The proposed development is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (2020) and conforms with A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2020). The proposed development also conforms to the City's Official Plan, including the Central Waterfront Secondary Plan.

This report reviews and recommends approval of the application to amend the Zoning By-law, with a holding provision. The proposed development will contribute to the ongoing revitalization of the Central Waterfront as a complete, mixed-use community with significant affordable housing, a generous public realm, and high standards of sustainability and design.

This application forms part of the Quayside development, which includes additional Planning Applications at 333 Lake Shore Boulevard East, 3 to 7 Parliament Street, and 11 and 11R Small Street (Quayside Blocks 3, 4 and 5). Across both phases of the project, a total of seven mixed-use buildings ranging from 12-72 storeys are proposed, totaling 299,361 square metres of residential gross floor area and 23,221 square metres of non-residential gross floor area. In total, approximately 4,697 residential units are proposed, 869 of which are affordable rental housing units.

The report also recommends Council submit a request to the Province to identify Quayside as a Priority Project within the Lower Don Special Policy Area to permit Council's consideration of an Official Plan Amendment required for subsequent phases of the Quayside development. Subject to joint Ministerial approval of proposed Official Plan Amendments on Blocks 4 and 5, further reporting on planning applications for Quayside Blocks 3-5 will occur.