65 Ookwemin Street Zoning By-law Amendment; Approval of interim uses while College Park redevelopment awaits tribunal

housing

65 Ookwemin Street Zoning By-law Amendment; Approval of interim uses while College Park redevelopment awaits tribunal

Toronto and East York Community Council approved a zoning by-law amendment for 65 Ookwemin Street to permit non-residential uses (community, cultural, recreational, sport, entertainment, and retail) while the site awaits the Ontario Land Tribunal's decision on a separate application for four mixed-use towers of 20 to 45 storeys. The interim zoning allows low-scale non-residential activation during what is expected to be a lengthy litigation process. No changes to height, density, or built form are proposed as part of this zoning amendment.

not yet heardToronto City Council · Wed, Jul 29Decided elsewhere

Who did what

Councillor Dianne Saxe (Ward 11, University-Rosedale) movedMoved approval of the zoning by-law amendment without recommendations, indicating further work remains on related items.

From the floor

“The College Park redevelopment builds on the site's iconic legacy while proposing new uses, amenities, and housing to create a livable contemporary urban experience. Overall, the proposal conserves and thoughtfully respects the heritage base building while introducing three towers on the site, 65, 96, and 75 stories.”Weston Consulting, on behalf of GWL Realty Advisors, the applicant for the proposed college park redevelopment

“I live about 30 meters from where this proposed development is going to be. I have several major issues with this proposal. Right now the number of people living there is putting serious strain on all of the infrastructure. The subway station at peak times 10-12 people deep; it can be five or six trains go by and you can't get on; 20-25 minute wait and very crowded. Schools are critically overcrowded. And you want to add three more towers, one over 90 floors tall and the other 60 and 70.”A resident

“This proposal would permit three towers of 65, 75 and 96 stories with 2,342 residential units. It will demolish 210 existing rental homes and replace them with 216 replacement rental units. It will alter the designated College Park Heritage building, including one of Toronto's major art deco landmarks. That combination demands a higher standard of public interest protection.”Ward 11 resident and candidate for city council in Ward 11 University Rosedale

“I think that if they build the last time they told us everything would be built by the year 2030. Now they're saying we move out by 2032 and that it can take 5 years or more when we move out to move back in. If we have problems finding our way around Toronto, just for myself, Eaton's the Eaton wing of Toronto General Hospital, couple of blocks away is very difficult for me to go to. Where am I going to live?”A resident

“This is an older building and it's rent controlled and so when they build new buildings, we're going to lose rent control buildings for future generations. I think it's very important that we think about our future generations because it's hard to get rent control buildings in the city the way that the city is. I would like for the city to think about the people before the profits.”A resident

Also in this item

• The zoning amendment is temporary: it enables interim non-residential use while the site awaits Ontario Land Tribunal approval of the larger College Park redevelopment (four towers, 20-45 storeys, 2,342 units). The interim use is intended to activate the site during litigation that could take years.

• The application involves displacement of 210 existing rent-controlled rental units with replacement of 216 units in the new towers. Tenants raised concerns about temporary relocation timelines (initially 1 year, now up to 5 years), particularly for seniors with cognitive disabilities and health issues.

• A councillor pressed the applicant on whether it is doing anything beyond legal minimums to assist displaced tenants, specifically whether the applicant (GWL/one of Canada's largest residential landlords) is offering vacancies in its own buildings to displaced tenants. The applicant's response was vague.

The journey

Wed, Jul 8 · Toronto and East York Community Council · forwarded without recommendation

Wed, Jul 29 · Toronto City Council · not yet heard

Decision

Approved. Council approved the zoning by-law amendment to permit interim non-residential uses at 65 Ookwemin Street, enabling the site to be activated with community, cultural, recreational, sport, entertainment, and retail uses while the larger College Park redevelopment application proceeds through the Ontario Land Tribunal.

On video

Jump to this item in the meeting video

Why is this story here?

ContainedThis zoning amendment is narrow in scope: it permits interim non-residential uses (community, retail, entertainment) on an otherwise under-utilised site awaiting tribunal approval of a larger development. The amendment itself does not approve the towers or the major residential redevelopment; it merely enables temporary activation. The stakes are real (temporary land use, interim strategy for a significant downtown site) but contained to the interim period and subject to a larger application that is not yet decided. Reversal would not be costly; the interim uses are genuinely temporary.Touches a narrow groupThe zoning change itself does not affect residents immediately or broadly. The interim uses (community, retail, entertainment, cultural) are low-scale and meant to activate an empty lot. The larger College Park redevelopment, which would have much higher salience (2,342 units, displacement of tenants, major height/density change), is a separate application still in tribunal review and not decided at committee. A few residents deputed on the College Park proposal in the same meeting, raising broad concerns about infrastructure, overcrowding, and community change, but those are not the subject of this item. This item's salience is indirect: it is a procedural step that enables use of a vacant site while a more significant application proceeds elsewhere.

Stories are ordered by how much weight a decision carries and how directly it reaches daily life. They rise as a decision date approaches and fall as they age.

Official title: 65 Ookwemin Street - Zoning By-law Amendment - Decision Report - Approval · meeting video