5 Yonge Street properties should be designated as heritage buildings, council committee says

A Toronto city council committee will recommend that five downtown Yonge Street properties be designated as heritage buildings under provincial legislation because of their cultural value.

The city's planning and housing committee decided at its Wednesday meeting to recommend that council authorize the designation of the buildings — located at 639, 641, 645, 649 and 651 Yonge St. — under the Ontario Heritage Act. The properties are already listed on the city's Heritage Register.

Coun. Brad Bradford, who represents Beaches East York and chairs the committee, said the decision would mean the facades of the buildings could be incorporated into a proposed redevelopment of the site, allowing the city to strike a balance between heritage and housing.

Council will consider the matter on July 19.

"It's an important step to be able to preserve the historic fabric of Toronto's main streets," Bradford said after the meeting.

"Now, with the preservation in place, we are also able to unlock more housing as part of redevelopment. The facades will be retained. When you are on the streetscape, you will see that heritage that is characteristic of many parts of Yonge Street, but we are also going to add hundreds of new housing units on those sites."

The cultural heritage value of the properties has become an issue after the city received applications for a site plan control, official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment last September that would allow for the redevelopment. There are plans for a 76-storey mixed-use tower on the site.

According to the committee, the proposed tower would retain the existing building facades along Yonge Street and part of Isabella Street. 

A summary of the item considered at the meeting said the buildings are worth preserving.

"Anchoring the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Isabella Street, the properties at 639-651 Yonge Street were completed between c.1878 and 1951, and collectively support the historic main street character of this part of Yonge Street through their consistent low-rise scale, form and massing, and their range of architectural styles," the summary reads.

The proposed redevelopment calls for an open atrium with ground floor retail behind the facades at 639 to 649 Yonge St. and for a residential lobby behind the facade of 651 Yonge St. It also calls for 678 residential units. There would be about 53,988 square metres of residential space, 697 square metres of retail and commercial space, and 425 square metres of community cultural space.

The five properties are contained within what is known as the Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District. Although the city adopted the Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District Plan in 2016, it is currently under appeal at the Ontario Land Tribunal.

On its website, the city describes the district as a "major early transportation corridor" often called "Toronto's Main Street." The district runs from College Street to just south of Bloor Street and includes a one kilometre stretch of Yonge Street.

The district has an "intact collection of 19th century and early 20th century commercial main street and residential type buildings that speak to its heritage values," the city says.