Christopher J. Tanzola Overland LLP Partner 5255 Yonge St, Suite 1101 Direct 416-730-0645 Toronto, ON M2N 6P4 Cell 416-428-7493 Tel 416-730-0337 [email protected] overlandllp.ca April 16, 2021 Mayor John Tory and Members of City Council City of Toronto Toronto City Hall 100 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5H 2N2 Attention: Toronto & East York District, Customer Service Your Worship and Members of City Council: RE: Pier 27 Phase III Applications for Official Plan Amendment, Zoning By-law Amendment, and Site Plan Approval 19-37 Queens Quay East Building A (35 Queens Quay East) & Building F (25 Queens Quay East) We are the lawyers for Pier 27 Toronto (North) Inc. and Pier 27 Toronto (Northeast) Inc. (together, “Pier 27”), the owners of the property on the south side of Queens Quay, east of Yonge Street with municipal addresses of 19-37 Queens Quay East (the “Property”). The Property The Property is located on the south side of Queens Quay East, east of Yonge Street and west of Jarvis Street, at the terminus of Freeland Street. The Property is bordered to the immediate east and south by Phase I of the Pier 27 development (Building B at 39 Queens Quay East and Building D at 29 Queens Quay East) and to the immediate west by Phase II of the Pier 27 development (Building G at 35 Queens Quay East). Farther east is the property owned by Redpath Sugar at 95 Queens Quay East and farther west is property owned by Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto, and the Toronto Port Authority, as well as the Yonge Street Slip. A legal description of the Property is found in Appendix “1” to this letter. Pier 27 Phase I and Phase II The Property is the remaining development land for the larger Pier 27 development which has proceeded in phases over the last 10-15 years. The remaining buildings are identified for planning purposes as Building A (25 Queens Quay East) and Building F (35 Queens Quay East), two of the five buildings envisioned for the overall development: 1. Building B (14 storeys, 410 units) was registered as a condominium in 2015. In addition to residential units, it contains an at-grade community facility space and below grade residential parking. 2. Building D (14 storeys, 306 units) was also registered as a condominium in 2015. It is a wholly residential building, with below grade residential parking. 3. Building G (35 storeys, 421 units) has been constructed and occupied since 2020. The City issued Draft Plan of Condominium conditions in 2021, and registration of the condominium is anticipated shortly. The tower contains residential units, at-grade retail, and below grade commercial and residential parking. 4. Building A and Building F have each been site plan approved at 13 storeys and a total of 271 dwelling units. Building A is to contain residential units and at-grade retail, as well as an at-grade daycare space and associated outdoor area. Building F is to contain residential units and at-grade retail. There is residential and commercial parking below both buildings. A detailed planning history of the Pier 27 development is found in Appendix “2” and “Appendix 3” to this letter. Pier 27 Phase III Pier 27 now seeks an Official Plan Amendment, a Zoning By-law Amendment, and Site Plan Approval to establish a revised form of development for Building A and Building F (“Phase III”): 5. Building A is proposed at 11 storeys and 136 units (10,091 square metres of residential and non-residential gross floor area). It will continue to contain residential uses, at-grade retail, and an at-grade daycare and associated outdoor space. 6. Building F is proposed at 45 storeys and 449 units (34,348 square metres of residential and non-residential gross floor area), comprised of residential units and at-grade retail. 7. Below-grade, the buildings will have residential and commercial parking. 8. The site organization and building footprints remain largely unchanged from the approved Site Plan. Vehicular access, driveways, ramps, and loading are unchanged from the approved Site Plan (these facilities have already been constructed as part of the earlier phases of development). The Phase III application represents an opportunity to more fully realize the intensification opportunities that exist on the Pier 27 site, and it responds to the development activity that has occurred along Queens Quay in recent years. At the same time, the application respects the detailed site planning that has been done throughout the 2000s and 2010s to open the Pier 27 site to the lake, to provide porosity and public access through the site to the water’s edge, to provide “green fingers” extending north-south throughout the site, and to respect the overall 2 framework of the City’s Waterfront by providing for lower heights on the south side of Queens Quay than are approved and under construction on the north side of Queens Quay. The previous Pier 27 approvals have remained within the density permissions established for the site by the Avro development concept in the 1990s (142,616 square metres of density on a site area of 35,654 square metres, for a floor space index of 4.0). However, with the site’s locational attributes, the Province’s emphasis on intensification and making use of transit, transportation, and infrastructure opportunities where they exist, and with the development of a much taller and more intense context in the area between Queens Quay and the Gardiner/Lakeshore Boulevard, there is now an opportunity to revisit the appropriate form of development for the remaining buildings of the Pier 27 development. For Phase III, the proposed development sees Building A remain largely unchanged from the mid-rise form approved by the City and the Ontario Municipal Board in the 2010-2015 Phase II rezoning. However, in Phase III, Building F is redesigned as a tower form building rising above a mid-rise podium and complementing the neighbouring Building G, a 35-storey tower. The proposed density of Building A and Building F together is 44,438 square metres, which would result in a total gross floor area on the overall Pier 27 site of 157,068 square metres and a still modest floor space index of 4.4. Pier 27 Public Benefits As noted above, Building A of Phase III will be the location of a 52-child daycare space that will be provided to the City at no cost for a period of 99 years, with 2 dedicated parking spaces provided in the underground garage provided for the daycare’s use. Two million dollars in securities (plus indexing) are currently being held by the City to ensure the completion of the daycare. Phase III also will see the delivery of the remaining land conveyance to the City of Toronto, in the form of a permanent public easement over the northern portion of the site driveway (the north easement), connecting to the existing 20-metre wide easement that leads to the water’s edge promenade at the foot of the site (the south easement). This north easement is currently covered by a licence in favour of the City of Toronto. In addition to the broad public easement through the middle of the site for pedestrian, bicycle, and service vehicle passage, the Pier 27 development has previously provided for the conveyance and construction of the 25-metre wide water’s edge promenade to the City. The improvements to the promenade were constructed as part of the Phase I development in accordance with a design approved by the City and Waterfront Toronto. 3 The Pier 27 development has also provided for the rehabilitation of the dockwall along the face of the water’s edge promenade in accordance with the requirements of the Toronto Port Authority. The Toronto Port Authority also enjoys easements for passage through the site in order to access and maintain the dockwall. As part of the Phase II development, Pier 27 completed a land exchange with Waterfront Toronto to facilitate the construction of a future public park space at the Foot of Yonge Street. Additional lands south of Waterfront Toronto’s holdings and north of the water’s edge promenade were also transferred to the City of Toronto as part of the Phase I conveyances, with those lands also to be incorporated into the future Foot of Yonge Street public park. Through Phase I and Phase II, Pier 27 has also conveyed a 9-metre wide road widening along the southern frontage of Queens Quay East to facilitate the City’s plans for public realm improvements, including the Martin Goodman Trail and the future East Bayfront LRT, which will pass directly in front of the site. The Pier 27 development has also implemented and delivered significant public art throughout the site in accordance with a public art program approved and overseen by the City. The full value of the public art package has been secured with the City via letters of credit and the final installation of the public art is nearly complete. Land Use Compatibility Apart from the public benefits listed above, Pier 27 and the City have also secured numerous design features and strategies in the design of Buildings B, D, and G to ensure land use compatibility with the neighbouring Redpath Sugar plant, located to the east. In that regard, noise and air quality assessments have been provided with the submission materials to ensure that the Phase III development continues to provide for a compatible relationship with Redpath. As anticipated by the planning framework for the site, it is expected that these assessments will be peer reviewed on behalf of the City and that Redpath will have the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed development and on design features or mitigation measures that may be appropriate.