Item - 2026.PB43.2

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 65 Heward Avenue (including entrance address 87 Heward Avenue) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance for 65 Heward Avenue (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 1 to the report (April 7, 2026) 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 65 Heward Avenue (including address at 87 Heward Avenue) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value according to the Statement of Significance, which includes a description of heritage attributes found in Attachment 1.

The property is subject to a Prescribed Event. Clerks issued a complete application notice on October 29, 2025. The owner provided a waiver to extend the time for Council to make a decision and the waiver expires on May 31, 2026.In order to meet prescribed timelines under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Council must make a decision at its May 20, 21, 22, 2026, meeting to provide sufficient time for the City Clerk to issue a notice of intention to designate before May 31, 2026.

The subject property at 65 Heward Avenue is located on the east side of Heward Avenue and is set back from the south side of Eastern Avenue between Carlaw Avenue and Leslie Street in the South Riverdale neighbourhood. A location map and current photograph of the heritage property are found in Attachment 2.

The property at 65 Heward Avenue was completed in 1913 for the Canadian Ammonia Company, and to the designs of Curry and Sparling Architects. The property contains two brick factory/warehouse type buildings constructed in 1913, each with one and two storey portions. In 1987, Cine Village, one of Canada's largest all-in-one production centres at the time, modified the property by connecting the two factory/warehouse buildings with an addition, which was further altered in 2019. The property has a direct association with the industrialization of Leslieville and the growth of Toronto’s east end film industry. 

Staff have determined that the property at 65 Heward Avenue has cultural heritage value and meets 4 of the Ontario Regulation 9/06 criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. 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 was listed on the City's Heritage Register on March 26, 2025.

A development application for an Official Plan Amendment was made with the City for the property, where the proposed development would retain the two factory/warehouse type buildings on the property at 65 Heward Avenue in situ, and construct four new mixed-use towers. The proposal includes a 9-storey building fronting Eastern Avenue, two towers of 18 and 28 stories connected by a 4-storey podium in the centre of the site, and a 12-storey building located at its south end.