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

A location map and current photograph of the heritage property is found in Attachment 2. The property at 81 Isabella Street contains a two-storey apartment building with raised basement constructed in 1927, known as the Merlan Apartments. It was designed by the architect Norman Alexander Armstrong in the Period Revival style with Edwardian influences. The Merlan Apartments represents one of Armstrong's first designs in the multi-residential walk-up apartment typology. He subsequently designed the Mayfair Apartments (1928), the Haddon Hall Apartments (1928), and the St. Edmunds Apartments (1929-1930) and several notable single-family residences and commercial properties that are designated under the Ontario Heritage Act or are included on the heritage registers in municipalities located in southern Ontario such as Oakville, Oshawa, Brampton, Brantford and London. 81 Isabella Street was listed on the City's Heritage Register on December 17, 2024. Staff have determined that the property at 81 Isabella Street has cultural heritage value. 81 Isabella Street meets 4 of the Ontario Regulation 9/06 criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. A property may be designated under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, if it meets 2 or more of the 9 criteria. The City received a Zoning By-law Amendment Application on June 6, 2025 related to the proposed redevelopment of the subject property which also includes the property at 81 Isabella Street. The proposed development would retain a portion of the main façades on the existing listed building at 81 Isabella Street and add the new construction of a sixty-nine-storey tower building with a three-storey base with lobby, amenity and rental offices at-grade, and residential rental units above. A Heritage Impact Assessment is required for all development applications that affect listed and designated properties to determine how a heritage property is proposed to be conserved. A Heritage Impact Assessment, prepared by Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects dated June 2, 2025, has been submitted. Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.

2. If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bills in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.