Concorde Development
An Application to amend the Zoning By-law for 10-12 Concorde Place was filed with the City back in 2018. The proposal then was for a 39-storey mixed use residential building containing 579 dwelling units, retail and community uses at grade, and three levels of underground parking. The Decision History in the Report for Action describes the sequence of events from then to the new applications for 1 to 3 Concorde Gate and 10 to 12 Concorde Place.
The Rezoning Application and associated Plan of Subdivision application propose to demolish the existing office buildings. The lands would be redeveloped with five residential and mixed-use buildings consisting of nine towers ranging in height from 40 to 52 storeys. The application proposes 4086 dwelling units, 307,004m2 of residential space, 841m2 of retail space, and 437m2 of community space. The overall density is 9.95. The proposal includes two new public parks located at the north and south ends of the site with a combined area of 3,690m2. Additionally, a new L-shaped public street is proposed to bisect 10-12 Concorde Place in a north-south direction.
See entire Pre-Application Consultation presentation
The Preliminary Report was reviewed at the Sept. 13, 2021 meeting of the North York Community Council.
FoNTRA submitted a letter of concern supporting the recommendation that staff undertake a “Focused Area Study” of the area surrounding the Subject Site, agreeing with the Staff Report that “a planning framework, including a set of policies to guide development for a complete community” is required. However, FoNTRA did not agree with staff reviewing the applications concurrently and within the context of the Focused Area Study. Instead FoNTRA recommended that approval of the Preliminary staff report be deferred pending completion of the Focused Area Study (FAS). FoNTRA also questioned that this change from employment to residential uses in an area designated Mixed Use is allowable by zoning by-law amendment, without full examination through an OP Amendment.
The North York Community Council adopted this item with amendments: staff are to schedule a virtual community consultation meeting; notice of the meeting is to be given with 120 metres of the site as well as to others defined in consultation with the Ward Councillor; staff are to undertake a Focused Area Study of the area bound by the Don Valley Parkway to the west, the CPR rail to the north, Eglinton Avenue East to the south, and the Charles Sauriol Conservation Area to the east; staff are to review the applications concurrently and within the context of the Focused Area Study; and staff are to consider and report back in Oct, 2021 on extending the boundary of the Focus Area Study to include 197, 205, and 215 Wynford Drive.
The North York Community Council adopted without amendment the Sept. 23, 2021 Report from the Acting Director, Community Planning, North York District on Oct. 13, 2021. Staff reported that as 197, 205, and 215 Wynford Drive are located within a Toronto Region Conservation Authority regulated area, located near or below the top of bank, there is little merit to include these properties from a built form perspective within the Focused Area Study. However, staff will include these properties as part of the study in order to assess impacts related to transportation, servicing, and community facilities.
Don Mills Community Centre
Background
Cadillac Fairview is the owner of the “Shops at Don Mills” and the shopping centre completed the first phase of its upgrade that was open to the public in 2009. In 2017, Cadillac Fairview completed the second phase of a $21 million redevelopment of its 40-acre Shops at Don Mills property in Toronto. Renovations include public realm upgrades, expanded entertainment zones, and an overall enhancement of the amenity offerings to the outdoor lifestyle shopping centre.
In 2010, the City engaged with negotiations with Cadillac Fairview (along with the active involvement of DMRI) regarding Phase II of the Shops at Don Mills, A major outcome of these negotiations was an agreement for Cadillac Fairview to build a community centre for Don Mills. Cadillac Fairview has a number of obligations under the agreement. One of the major obligations was that Cadillac Fairview would the Community Centre will include among its principal functional components a competition-size swimming pool, fitness area, running/ walking track, meeting rooms, gymnasium and auditorium.
Unexpected Change of Location
In June of 2019, local residents were shocked to discover that the promised Community Centre in Shops of Don Mills was cancelled in favour of a developer’s plans for the Celestica site a Don Mills and Eglinton.
According to the local residents’ associations, DMRI, the City proposed two options and neither of these options included the all of the facilities that were included in the original agreement signed in 2010. The following map shows …
In a meeting on June 2019, City Council approved the proposed facilities for the Celestica Site. The facility on the Celestica site, as approved by council, is nearly three times the size originally planned for the Don Mills Community Centre — and include a twin-pad arena, a multi-tank aquatic facility, a full-size gymnasium with walking track, and a multi-purpose and amenity space.
Here is the link to the City Council Agenda Item EX7.5 where the proposal is reviewed and approved.
Notice of Application for Injunction
In June 2019, the Don Mills Residents Association (DMRI) filed a notice of application with Ontario Supreme Court to seek relief in the above matter. The substance of the claim was that building a community centre outside of their immediate neighbourhood violates a legally binding contract negotiated at the Ontario Municipal Board in early 2010.
In their statement of claim, DMRI asks the court for an injunction restraining the city and Cadillac Fairview from proceeding with a community centre at a venue other than that negotiated in 2010 and from using more than $17 million in funds — dedicated by Cadillac Fairview — to do so.
The Ontario Supreme Court dismissed the application with a decision written on July 13, 2020.
169 Donway West Proposal
A more recent development has raised the stakes. Cadillac Fairview and Lanterra Developments are offering to build a smaller community centre on 19,000 square feet of proposed retail space at the base of a residential tower that stands on the site of a former Canada Post building, next to the stores of Don Mills.
In an email to the Toronto Star, a Cadillac Fairview representative said construction is expected to start in 2023 and be completed in 2026.
The proposed community centre for the foot of the building on the Canada Post site is much smaller than what Don Mills residents agreed to in 2010 – less than half the size. It does not have a swimming pool. But it would include many of the amenities residents have longed for, including an indoor court and meeting spaces.
966 Don Mills Road Proposal
Better Living at Thompson House is a 136-bed long-term care home providing semi-private accommodations for individuals who have complex medical or support needs. Unfortunately, the existing LTC facility does not meet current standards such as a minimum number of beds and may be required to close or seek space elsewhere, away from Don Mills.
The legal standoff between the City of Toronto and the Don Mills Residents Inc. over the future of a once-promised community centre appears near its end, after council voted in November 2021 to move ahead with a plan to use the lands at 966 Don Mills Road for a long-term care facility.
In an interview, Stephen Ksiazek of DMRI said he was pleased with the result of the vote — and said the site was an ideal one for Thompson House, a local long-term-care facility. In their letter to the city, the DMRI said that they are in discussion with the provincial and federal governments, as well as Thompson House, to help construct a more modern facility there.
Ksiazek said the city should be able to move immediately, noting that the community has already been extensively consulted on the idea of long-term care, and other issues like remediation of the soil could move forward in tandem with the transfer of the property.