29 Basin Street - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act

The Sun Oil Company Building was completed in 1931 as a two-storey, factory/warehouse structure designed by T.H. Mothershill and Company. Once the main office building for a large industrial site, the subject property was part of the Port Lands' first major phase of modern development during the early twentieth century. 29 Basin Street was listed on the Heritage Register on October 28, 2004. In proximity to several other listed and designated properties, including the Richard L. Hearn Generating Station located directly south across the Ship Channel, the Sun Oil Company Building is an important part of the early twentieth-century industrial history of the Port Lands that will form part of a planned film and television studio campus to be known as the "Basin Media Hub." Staff have completed the Research and Evaluation Report for the property at 29 Basin Street and determined that it meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. 29 Basin Street has cultural heritage value as an early twentieth-century factory/warehouse type building with Classical Revival design elements, as expressed through its structural grid of cast stone vertical capped piers and horizontal bands, the two large cast stone entablatures upon its façade, its factory/warehouse type windows, and its scale, form, and massing. On March 15, 2023, the City received a Site Plan Application for a proposed redevelopment of the subject property at 75 Basin Street including the municipal addresses of 29, 35, and 41 Basin Street for a film and television studio campus with 59,100 square metres of development with twelve sound stages, production offices, mill and support spaces, vehicular and bicycle parking in an above-grade garage, and associated base camp and backlot facilities. The subject property is proposed to be maintained in situ to be used as offices with no significant alterations planned aside from the removal of the later rear addition which dates to the 1990s. A Heritage Impact Assessment is required for all development applications that affect listed and designated properties and will be considered when determining how a heritage property is to be conserved. On March 15, 2023, an Heritage Impact Assessment was submitted for 29, 35, 41 Basin Street and 75 Basin Street by ERA Architects on behalf of Adamson Associates. 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 at 29 Basin Street meets four criteria related to its design/physical, historical/associative, and contextual value. Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.

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.