Sounds pretty amazing

Builder still on track for Distillery District condo/hotel development. The developer behind a proposed 34-storey hotel/condominium project in the Distillery District still wants to proceed with the plan, despite the city’s concerns about its height and fit for the historic area.

“We haven’t been told it’s a no-go,’’ said David Jackson, one of four partners with Cityscape Development, co-owner of the Distillery with Dundee Realty. Jackson said that, though his team believes the design is appropriate, they’re open to exploring options.

The project, estimated to cost up to $130 million, would be the first hotel in the popular tourist area. A total of 88 hotel suites and 246 condo units are planned, and the developers hope to have the project completed by 2017.

A unique feature is that the condo tower would be stacked on top of a six-storey rack house at Mill and Trinity Sts., a heritage building dating to 1875. The rack house would be turned into a “boutique hotel.’’

But the city has asked the builders to make significant revisions to the scale of the project.

A preliminary city report notes the proposed height and density are a “significant departure’’ from what was outlined in the original Gooderham & Worts heritage master plan, and a secondary plan for the King and Parliament Sts. area, neither of which contemplated additions to the rack house at Mill and Trinity Sts.

The rack house, currently vacant, contains six floors of traditional racks used to house large barrels for aging whisky. Doing a hotel conversion would take a long time because the racks, which would have to be removed currently support the building, Jackson said.

Recently the city’s design review panel, which provides advice to Toronto’s chief planner, met to review the application and voted 5-3 to send it back for a redesign. The architect is Saucier & Perrotte Architects in Montreal.

Although the quality of design is not in question, the panel majority felt the “massing’’ — its overall size — was not appropriate in that location, given its potential impact on Trinity St. and the area’s heritage continuity. There were also concerns about the shadow cast by such a tall building.

Gregg Lintern, director of community planning for Toronto and East York district, said the proposal is back in the hands of the developers.

Jackson, of Cityscape, said his team isn’t “fixated” on 34 storeys and will soon turn attention to the height concerns.

There are other tall condo towers in the area, including a completed 32-storey building, and two others — 40 storeys and 37 storeys — that are under construction.

A final report on the application is set for sometime this summer.

The Toronto Star
February 22, 2012 18:02:00
Donovan Vincent      
Staff Reporter