Proposal details
The proposal is brought forth by the Board of Trustees of Mark Street United Church, chaired by former mayor Daryl Bennett, and TVM.
Jump to: Parking // Urban Design // Heritage Impact
Zoning
The proposed mixed-use building will consist of four levels of structured parking (one partially underground), with commercial space along the street and 205 dwelling units from floors 3 through 17. As currently proposed, the dwelling units will consist of 66 one-bedroom units, 110 two-bedroom units and 29 three-bedroom units. These will be market-rate rental apartments (not condos, not affordable housing).
The proposal is seeking rezoning for a modified C.6 zone or a new Special Zone District. Below is a table showing the C.6 zone requirements and the proposed lot regulations – non-complying regulations are in bold.
| Type | Proposed Requirement | C.6 Zone requirement |
| Maximum Number of Dwelling Units | 205 | -- |
| Maximum Commercial Floor Area | 232 square metres | -- |
| Minimum Lot Width | 43 metres | -- |
| Minimum Lot Depth | 88 metres | -- |
| Maximum Building Coverage | 61.9% | 50% |
| Minimum Setback to Centreline of Hunter Street | 14.2 metres | 15.2 metres |
| Minimum Landscaping Requirement Width | 2.8 metres | 9 metres |
| Maximum Building Floor Area Ratio | 6.97 | 1.2 |
| Minimum Interior Side Yard Setback | 1.90 metres | -- |
| Minimum Rear Yard Setback | 4.5 metres | -- |
| Minimum Front Yard Setback | 1.6 metres | -- |
| Minimum Number of Loading Spaces | 1 | 1 |
| Minimum Rear Yard Setback (stepback) from 4th storey to 17th storey | 29.9 metres | -- |
| Minimum Side Yard Setback (stepback) from 5th storey to 17th storey | 14 metres | -- |
Parking
In short: there is an oversupply of parking with the 17-storey proposal.
The residential and commercial parking bylaw requirements total 137 spaces. The proposal includes 160 spaces, with pick up/drop off spaces and accessible spaces. Excess parking is proposed to be made available as paid public parking.
There are 176 bicycle parking spaces proposed. No EV charging spots are included in the existing proposal.
This comprises 4 storeys of parking, one partially underground, with open air parking on the roof at the back of the building (behind the tower). This is in the northwestern portion of the lot with residential zoning on three sides.
The church lot will be losing spaces, being reduced to 15. This meets zoning requirements but doesn’t meet the max parking usage identified in the proposal’s parking study. Public parking in the garage will be free on Sundays in attempts to alleviate the impact of churchgoers parking on surrounding streets.
Parking is part of the reason the proposal jumped from 10 to 17 storeys – the developer cites that they were responding to public concern around the perceived lack of sufficient parking, and the impact that would have on surrounding streets. This change added additional storeys of parking.
Note that 90 Hunter is serviced by two key bus routes and a bike network. Excessive parking for cars is counter to forward-thinking urban design principles designed to reduce car dependency and promote sustainable transportation choices. The surplus is not only excessive from a bylaw standpoint, but also excessive from a needs standpoint: the orginal application included a parking study that found the peak parking rate for comparative developments in this area is 0.70 - 0.73 spaces per unit.
See:
- Traffic Impact Study and Parking Justification Report (Revised)
- Traffic Impact Study and Parking Justification Report (10-storey propsal)
Urban Design
Despite following a podium and tower typology and respecting the human scale of the street, the proposal has inadequate transitions to neighbouring properties.
Hunter Street East is subject to the Central Area Urban Design Guidelines (PDF), which states that high-rise residential buildings (6+ storeys) should:
“For portions of high-rise buildings above 6 storeys, maintain a separation distance of a minimum of 10 metres from side property lines to reduce shadow impacts, ensure sky view, allow for side-facing windows and maintain reasonable privacy for neighbouring buildings.”
This proposal’s tower has a separation distance of only 3.3 metres on the west side, and 2.8 metres from 423 Mark St, per the architectural diagrams.
It’s our opinion that this lack of setback, coupled with the encroachment on the 45-degree angular plane (see the angular plane analysis), contribute to undue, adverse impacts on adjacent properties.
Further, City Staff provided the following comments on the 17-storey proposal:
“Staff acknowledge that there is recent Council direction to process an Official Plan Amendment to remove building height restrictions and angular plane requirements from the Official Plan. Notwithstanding that, staff suggest the following changes to improve compatibility with the surrounding area:
- a) The proposed building encroaches into the angular plane for the property line abutting 423 Mark Street by three storeys, and the 0.8 metre set back will not facilitate the establishment of an adequate landscape buffer. It is the opinion of staff that rationale for this encroachment has not been articulated. Staff request addressing this encroachment into the angular plane and articulating the appropriate mitigation measures to address compatibility.
- b) Concerns remain with the proposed massing of the rear of the building as it relates to the low-rise residential uses at 427 Mark Street and 33 Cricket Place. Staff continue to support the additional height along Hunter Street East in compensation for reduced height, improved building transitions, step backs and setbacks at the rear to make room for adequate landscape buffering.
- i) The applicant is strongly encouraged to introduce a combination of appropriate step backs, height reduction and/or transitions between the 11th and 17th storeys of the building and the third storey of the buildings base relative to the existing low-rise residential uses on Cricket Place and Mark Street.
- ii) Staff acknowledges that the angular plane is one measure of compatibility and does not need to be strictly implemented. Where there are encroachments, staff are looking for alternative mitigation measures to be implemented during site plan approval. The Urban Design Brief remains silent on a mitigation plan to improve compatibility with surrounding uses.
- c) Additional step backs should be considered as part of the residential portion of the building. The step back at the street wall is currently only proposed for the commercial portion.”
The updated proposal expands the 0.8m set back to 423 Mark St to 2.8m and notes alternative landscape options will be explored at the Site Plan stage, but does not address the rest of Staff comments.
Heritage Impact
Summary of the proposal’s Heritage Impact Assessment.
Potential negative impacts:
- Visual overwhelming due to significant height difference (17 storeys vs. low-rise church)
- Afternoon shadowing of church building (3:00-6:00 PM)
- Change to broader streetscape character in longer views
Positive aspects:
- Lower podium height in the new proposal (4 vs. 6 storeys) improves immediate relationship to the church and streetscape
- Compatible design elements (brick cladding, vertical emphasis in window/door openings)
- No direct physical impact to heritage attributes of the original church
Professional opinion
The heritage consultant rates the potential adverse impact as “moderate”, defined as “changes to the setting of an historic building, such that it is significantly modified.” The revised design with 4-storey streetwall is considered an improvement over the original proposal (which had a 6-storey streetwall), but the writer expresses concern about the impact of the tower portion within the broader streetscape context:
“Even in older neighbourhoods of Toronto, the densification policy along the Avenues considers the juxtaposition of new multi-residential buildings beside low-rise neighbourhoods, similar in scale to Hunter Street East, by setting a height limit of generally no greater than the the width of the right-of-way that the building fronts onto or about 5 to 11 storeys. In longer views, particularly looking west along Hunter Street East towards the church, the new 17-storey building will profoundly change the setting of the former 19th century commercial core by introducing a contrasting built form.”
Recommended mitigation strategies
- Increase building setback to enhance church prominence
- Careful brick color selection to maintain church’s distinctiveness
- Consider reducing tower height (for example, reducing parking)
- Lighter tower materials/colors
- Construction vibration monitoring and protection
Conclusion
While the development will significantly change the area’s character, the consultant concludes it broadly complies with provincial heritage policies (Section 4.6.1 of the 2024 Provincial Policy Statement).