May 12, 1999
To:Toronto Community Council
From:Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services
Subject:Section 37 Amendment: 55, 60, 70 and 80 Mill Street (Gooderham and Worts
Distillery Complex) (Don River)
Purpose:
To recommend certain changes to the phasing controls for Gooderham and Worts to permit
the construction of an affordable housing project
Source of Funds:Not applicable
Recommendation:
That the City Solicitor be authorized to prepare and execute an amending agreement pursuant
to Section 37 of the Planning Act to give effect to the changes described in this report.
Background:
In 1995 the former City of Toronto Council approved a major redevelopment for the
Gooderham and Worts Distillery site located on the east side of Parliament Street one street
south of Front Street East. The redevelopment includes the re-use of several important
heritage buildings on the site for commercial and cultural uses, and the construction of new
buildings on the periphery of the lands for a range of uses such as residential, office, and light
industrial uses.
Thus far, one 95 unit affordable housing project has been completed, and a second project for
183 units of affordable housing and 2,000 square metres of retail space is being constructed.
In addition, the owner is currently leasing the heritage buildings in the centre of the site for
retail/entertainment uses, and has pre-sold 60 percent of the units proposed in a third
affordable housing project containing about 140 units. This third project is currently being
reviewed by City staff as part of a site plan approval application.
The purpose of this report is to recommend certain amendments to the Section 37 Agreement
for Gooderham and Worts in order to permit this third affordable housing project to proceed
in a timely fashion. The proposed amendments are described below.
Comments:
1.The Current Phasing Controls
The Section 37 Agreement for Gooderham and Worts requires that as new buildings are
constructed on the perimeter of the site, that three things occur:
-a site interpretation centre to celebrate the history of the site be built in the oldest heritage
building on the site, the Stone Distillery;
-a daycare be constructed and commence operation; and
-the restoration of ground floors of certain heritage buildings be completed.
The obligation for these benefits is triggered by floor area caps as new buildings are occupied.
The Phase III building, which proposes the construction of 140 additional affordable housing
units would exceed these limits. The applicant would not be entitled to a building permit
unless these matters and facilities are completed. The applicant argues that the construction of
affordable housing cannot bear these expenses and has requested that the provision of these
benefits be tied to the redevelopment of the next phase of development which includes at least
one more housing project, light industrial space, retail/entertainment space, and office space.
The recommended changes are described below.
2.Exempt the Phase III Affordable Residential Building from the Phasing Controls
I am recommending that the Phase III affordable residential building be exempted from the
phasing controls. In effect this means that the requirement to provide a daycare and a site
interpretation centre will take effect when the next new building on the site is occupied.
3.Second Trigger for Site Interpretation Centre
The applicant has agreed to a second trigger for the provision of the Site Interpretation Centre.
The second trigger is tied to the occupancy of 15, 450 square metres of non residential gross
floor area within the heritage buildings located in the centre of the site, collectively called the
Trinity Street Heritage District, and some additional buildings which were initially slated to be
demolished, but are now to be re-used.
The existing heritage buildings included in this fall back trigger are the Machine Shop, the
Stone Distillery Complex, the Cooperage Complex, the Maltings Complex, the Pure Spirits
Complex, the Cannery, the Pumphouse, the Paint Shop, Rackhouse M, the Boilerhouse
Complex, the denaturing building, Rackhouse G and Rackhorse J. The applicant has already
pre-leased approximately 10,000 square metres of space in these buildings for a combination
of retail and entertainment uses.
4.Public Historian
The current Section 37 Agreement for Gooderham and Worts requires the owner to hire a
public historian to operate and supervise the Site Interpretation Centre. They are obligated to
hire this person at least 6 moths prior to its opening. The applicant has agreed to retain the
public historian earlier.
The public historian will now be hired within 6 months of reaching the trigger, and within an
additional 6 months the construction of the Site Interpretation Centre will commence, and it
must be in operation prior to the occupancy of additional space within the Trinity Street
Heritage District or the Phase IV building constructed outside the Trinity Street Heritage
District.
The net effect of this change is that the public historian will be involved in the design and
layout of the site interpretation centre. This will allow the completion of a better thought out
facility.
5.The Daycare
Two changes are proposed for the daycare. The first is to provide for a fall back trigger to the
provision of the daycare facility. It will commence operation prior to the earlier of the
occupancy 20,000 square metres of floor area within the buildings listed in Section 2 above,
or the occupancy of the Phase IV building, whichever is earlier.
The start up operating contingency fund will be increased from $51,000 to $100,000 to reflect
more recent agreements.
6.Building Restoration
The building restoration will now be completed at once in accordance with an existing trigger
in Section 2.2.1(5) of the existing Section 37 Agreement.
Conclusions:
The proposed changes to the Section 37 Agreement will allow the Phase III building, a 140
unit affordable housing project to proceed. In exchange for the exemption, the applicant has
agreed to certain other changes to the Section 37 Agreement which benefit the City.
Contact Name:
Lance Alexander
Planner
Community Planning, South District, East Section
Phone: 392-7573
Fax: 392-1330
E-mail: Lalexand@city.toronto.ca
Beate Bowron
Director, Community Planning, South District
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