Approved: 365 Church St. Moves Forward

Last year, we reported on a new project planned for Church St. - Menkes’ purchase of a surface parking lot near the corner of College and McGill. The proposal, which called for a new 30-storey contemporary glass tower, was not met with open arms, and was rejected by the City.

Menkes, feeling their proposal met all the requirements that are spelled out in the City’s official plan, took the project to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) - an independent legal body operating as an adjudicative tribunal. They hear appeals from residents, developers, and other interested parties, and use the planning act as their guide. In the case of Menkes and 365 Church St., the OMB agreed with Menkes’ view, and recently approved the plan.

“Given the context of tall building development in the downtown core of the City of Toronto as well as its immediate area, the proposed building does not represent overdevelopment of the site. Through its design, the proposed building will provide adequate and appropriate transition to the low-rise neighbourhood to the east. The Board also finds that it creates no significant issues of shadow impact, overlook and privacy for the low-rise houses to the east, “said OMB Board member, R. Rossi.

“This is the worst OMB ruling I have read in my two years as a city councillor,” said councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam to Inside Toronto. “He essentially said the neighbourhood was downtown, already grossly impacted by all these tall buildings, so what’s another one?”

These types of disagreements are fairly common within the development game. In this specific situation, it’s not shocking to see that the OMB chose to move forward with the application, given that the design seems to offer some much needed infrastructure to the area, as well as the fact that Aura, an approved 75-storey tower just a block to the west of the site is halfway built.

This site is another example of the importance of the OMB to the development process. Many times, we are subject to councillors who have a view of development from a local context, forgetting the bigger picture. We continue to see upwards of 100,000 immigrants come to the city every year, and without new residential units, affordability will be unattainable.