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Toronto City Council · 2025-10-08 · 2025.CC33.5

The filed record

505 University Avenue - Demolition of a Designated Heritage Property under Section 34(1)2 of the Ontario Heritage Act - Request for Directions

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The decision

2025-10-08 · Toronto City Council · adopted

As filed

City Council on October 8 and 9, 2025, adopted the following: 1. City Council adopt the confidential instructions to staff in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor. 2. City Council authorize the public release of the confidential instructions to staff in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor, at the discretion of the City Solicitor.

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3. City Council direct that Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor remain confidential at the discretion of the City Solicitor, as it pertains to litigation before the Ontario Land Tribunal and contains advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege. Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor remains confidential at this time in accordance with the provisions of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, as it pertains to litigation before the Ontario Land Tribunal and contains advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege. Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 26, 2025) from the City Solicitor will be made public at the discretion of the City Solicitor. October 23, 2025 The confidential instructions to staff in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor were adopted by City Council and are now public, the City Solicitor having exercised the City Solicitor's discretion to make them public, as follows: 1. City Council approve the demolition of the designated heritage property at 505 University Avenue in accordance with Section 34(1)2 of the Ontario Heritage Act as part of a reconstruction and commemoration strategy for the site substantially in accordance with plans and drawings prepared by BDP Quadrangle Architects, dated June 12, 2025, and submitted in conjunction with the Heritage Impact Assessment, dated August 22, 2025, prepared by GBCA Architects, and on file with the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, and subject to the conditions as set out below. 2. City Council direct that its consent to the application to demolish the designated heritage property at 505 University Avenue, in accordance with Part IV, Section 34(1)2 of the Ontario Heritage Act is also subject to the following conditions: a. that the related Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendments have come into full force and effect; b. prior to the issuance of an Ontario Land Tribunal order in connection with the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment appeals for the property at 505 University Avenue, the owner shall provide a detailed Reconstruction and Commemoration Plan prepared by a qualified heritage consultant that is substantially in accordance with the reconstruction and commemoration strategy set out in the Heritage Impact Assessment dated August 22, 2025, prepared by GBCA Architects, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; c. prior to the issuance of an Ontario Land Tribunal order in connection with the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment appeals for the property at 505 University Avenue, the owner shall enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement with the City for the property at 505 University Avenue substantially in accordance with plans and drawings prepared by BDP Quadrangle Architects, dated June 12, 2025, and submitted in conjunction with the Heritage Impact Assessment, dated August 22, 2025, prepared by GBCA Architects, and in accordance with the Reconstruction and Commemoration Plan required in Part 2.b. above to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, including execution and registration of this agreement, to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor; d. prior to the issuance of any permit for all or any part of the property at 505 University Avenue, including a heritage permit or a building permit, but excluding permits for repairs and maintenance and usual and minor works for the existing heritage building, as are acceptable to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, the owner of the subject property shall: 1. provide building permit drawings, including notes and specifications for the reconstruction keyed to the approved Reconstruction and Commemoration Plan required in Part 2.b. above, including a detailed description of materials and finishes, to be prepared by the project architect and a qualified heritage consultant to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; 2. provide full documentation of the existing heritage property at 505 University Avenue including two (2) printed sets of archival quality 8 by 10 inch colour photographs with borders in a glossy or semi-gloss finish and one (1) digital set on a memory stick in tiff format and 600 dpi resolution keyed to a location map, elevations and measured drawings, and copies of all original drawings as may be available, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; 3. provide an Interpretation Plan for the subject property, to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning and thereafter shall implement such plan to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; 4. provide a Heritage Lighting Plan that describe how the exterior of the heritage property will be sensitively illuminated to enhance its heritage character to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning and thereafter shall implement such a plan to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager Heritage Planning; 5. submit a Signage Plan to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; 6. provide a detailed Landscape Plan for the subject property, satisfactory to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; and 7. provide a Letter of Credit, including provision for upwards indexing, in a form and amount and from a bank satisfactory to the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, to secure all work included in the approved Reconstruction and Commemoration Plan and Interpretation Plan. e. prior to the release of the Letter of Credit required in Part 2.d.7. above, the owner shall: 1. provide a letter of substantial completion prepared and signed by a qualified heritage consultant, confirming that the required reconstruction and commemoration work and the required interpretive work has been completed in accordance with the Reconstruction and Commemoration Plan and Interpretation Plan and that an appropriate standard of work has been maintained, all to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning; and 2. provide replacement Heritage Easement Agreement photographs to the satisfaction of the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning. 3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary Bill, authorizing the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement for the property at 505 University Avenue. 4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor and City staff to take all necessary actions to implement City Council's decision. The balance of Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor remains confidential at this time in accordance with the provisions of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, as it pertains to litigation before the Ontario Land Tribunal and contains advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege. The balance of Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (September 9, 2025) from the City Solicitor will be made public at the discretion of the City Solicitor.

On the agenda

As the city filed it

On August 31, 2022, a Zoning By-law Amendment application was submitted to permit a 64-storey mixed-use building with 25,700 square metres of non-residential gross floor area and 704 dwelling units. The historic Shell Oil Building at 505 University Avenue was proposed to be demolished, with some of its materials re-used in the construction of a new base building. On October 23, 2023, the applicant appealed the Zoning By-law Amendment application to the Ontario Land Tribunal due to Council's failure to make a decision within the timeframe in the Planning Act for 505 University Avenue.

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On February 23, 2024, an Official Plan Amendment application was submitted to establish a Site and Area Specific Policy and among other matters, amend the Downtown Plan to remove the requirement to replace the existing non-residential gross floor area in the proposed development. On July 9, 2024, the applicant appealed the Official Plan Amendment application to the Ontario Land Tribunal due to Council's failure to make a decision within the timeframe in the Planning Act. The Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications for 505 University Avenue are referred to as the Original Development Applications. On September 2, 2025, the owner filed a Heritage Permit Application requesting Council's consent to demolish the designated heritage property at 505 University Avenue. This report focuses on the owner's Heritage Permit application (described below) under Section 34(1)2 of the Ontario Heritage Act, which requests City Council's consent to demolish the historic former Shell Oil Building at the designated property at 505 University Avenue. The Heritage Impact Assessment prepared by Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects dated August 22, 2025, including a comprehensive structural review (Heritage Retention Study) prepared by Jeff Watson, Professional Enginner, Jablonsky Ast and Partners dated November 25, 2024 (the "Heritage Structural Study"), and a Site Investigation Report by Clifford Restoration dated October 8, 2024 and Stone Cladding memo prepared by Clifford Restoration dated January 13, 2025 (the "Site Investigation/Restoration Report") (collectively, the "Applicant's Heritage Impact Documents") all contained in Public Attachment 3 to this Report. The Applicant's Heritage Impact Documents state that the demolition is being requested because of structural concerns with the existing building resulting from an "imbalance in the stiffness between the flexibility of the structural steel frame and that of the stiff Queenston Limestone masonry exterior". This imbalance will over time cause the stone to become "over-stressed" and crack. The Applicant's Heritage Impact Documents state that repairing the cracks will over time result in "a patchwork of mis-matched stones" that will result in "an accelerating loss of heritage value". The Applicant's Heritage Consultant therefore recommends that the building be carefully dismantled and the Queenston Limestone be salvaged and reused as part of a new building that would commemorate the heritage building by incorporating its reconstructed facades as part of a new mixed-used building. The owner now seeks City Council's consent to demolish the designated property at 505 University Avenue. Council requires the advice of the Toronto Preservation Board in respect of matters which may impact a designated heritage property.

Staff recommended

The City Solicitor recommends that: 1. City Council adopt the confidential instructions to staff contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to this report from the City Solicitor. 2. City Council authorize the public release of the confidential instructions to staff contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to this report from the City Solicitor, if adopted by City Council, at the discretion of the City Solicitor. 3. City Council

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direct that the information contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to this report from the City Solicitor is to remain confidential at the discretion of the City Solicitor, as it is about litigation before the Ontario Land Tribunal and contains advice or communications that are subject to solicitor-client privilege.

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