A ministerial building order (MZO) – Ontario Regulation 10/24 – that protects airspace for the safe operation of air ambulance services for St. Michael's Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children has impacted several developments in certain areas of the city centre. While the need to accommodate more people in Toronto is driving developments ever higher, the expansion of protected airspace to allow for emergency air transport of patients means several developments are now being reduced in height. The most drastic drop is that of 295 Jarvis Street. The building, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, will be reduced from 60 to 36 storeys in a settlement offer to the city in May 2024.
West elevation of 295 Jarvis Street, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt
Originally proposed in 2018 as a 36-story (112.45 m) tower with 351 residential units, the plan was ambitiously expanded to a 60-story (199.4 m) building (below) with 618 residential units in a resubmission in 2022. Returning to 36 stories with a revised height of 125.22 m would bring the new residential unit count to 414.
Previous 60-storey design, 295 Jarvis Street, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt
Currently, the site in the Garden District is occupied by an 1850s-era residential building. This 3.5-storey building sits on a 911 sq m rectangular lot, exactly between Dundas and Gerrard Streets. While the existing building is to be demolished, the settlement proposal includes a redesign of the podium of the new building that would improve compatibility with the neighbouring historic buildings.
View to the northeast towards 295 Jarvis Street, image retrieved from Google Maps
First draft, looking east towards 295 Jarvis Street, designed by Core Architects
The design's total gross floor area (GFA) of 30,346 sqm would result in a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 33.3. As part of the comparative offer, the proposal now includes 33 tenant replacement units on the 4th, 5th and 6th floors totaling approximately 1,270 sqm. These are all granny flats accessed via the main lobby and have full access to the building's amenities.
Site plan designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt
There would be four residential elevators, which equates to approximately one elevator per 104 residential units, which is roughly equivalent to average wait times. In addition, the design calls for an additional elevator from the underground parking garage to the common areas on the third floor.
Ground floor plan designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt
Residents would have access to 621 m² of indoor and 414 m² of outdoor space. A two-story underground car park will provide 373 long-term and 83 short-term bicycle parking spaces for residents, as well as 10 additional short-term parking spaces. The number of visitor parking spaces has been reduced from 12 to 6, two of which would be equipped for electric vehicles. As before, there will be no resident parking spaces in order to do justice to the traffic-oriented nature of the site.
South elevation of 295 Jarvis Street, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt
The site is a 10-minute walk from Dundas Station or a 14-minute walk from College Station on Yonge Line 1, while TTC streetcars serve Dundas and Carlton Street with stops on Jarvis Street. The future Moss Park Station on Ontario Line 3, currently under construction, will be approximately a 660-metre walk south of the building.
A diagram of the site and map of the surrounding area, image from the submission to the City of Toronto
Other proposals affected by the MZO include 412 Church Street to the northwest, where a planned 45-storey multi-use tower was scaled down to 33 storeys, while to the southeast 225 Queen Street East saw its 45-storey plan scaled down to 37 storeys. In addition, the two rental towers at 191 Sherbourne Street were scaled down from 47 and 49 storeys to 42 storeys each.
UrbanToronto will continue to monitor the progress of this development, but in the meantime you can learn more about it in our database file linked below. If you'd like, you can join the conversation in the associated project forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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