New Birch Cliff condo flies under the radar

Proposed condo for 1161 Kingston Rd. Photo: City of Toronto submission.

By Hedy Korbee

In a neighbourhood seething with upset over Kingston Road condo developers pushing zoning boundaries, one project is quietly making its way through the development process without uproar and seemingly little opposition.

It’s a comparatively modest eight-storey condo building with ground floor retail proposed for 1161 Kingston Rd. at Courcelette Road, the current site of Spiros & Sons gas station.

A community meeting held on June 3 to discuss the project was attended by 27 people, a small gathering compared to the crowd of more than 200 who turned out in May to discuss the controversial ten-storey redevelopment of Lenmore Court.  

At the meeting, Windmill Development Group outlined its proposal to the City of Toronto for a development that is 27.7 metres tall with a gross floor area of 5,068 square metres and 222 square metres of grade-related commercial space. 

The condo will consist of 56 dwelling units broken down as follows: 31 one-bedroom units, 21 two-bedroom units and three three-bedroom units. The upper floors are set back to limit shadows and oversight on the neighbourhood to the south.

The underground parking lot, accessible from Courcelette Road, will have 37 residential parking spaces and each stall will include a rough-in for electrical vehicle charging.

One additional parking spot will be reserved for a car-share service that can be used by anyone in the community. The condo will also have 50 bicycling parking spaces.

Spiros & Sons Automotive Centre, the current occupant at 1161 Kingston Rd. Photo: Ian Harvey

The relative lack of opposition to the project so far could stem from the fact that Windmill is not overreaching on height and density to the same extent that many developers have on Kingston Road.

Windmill Partner Alex Speigel told the meeting his company tries to work within the guidelines to develop good relationships with the community. He added that he’s been in the development business for 45 years and only two of his projects have ever gone to the Ontario Municipal Board.

“Our approach on each project is to develop projects that are properly in context with their site. We could try and overreach with nine or 10, or whatever stories, and then there would be a big fight and it would drag out. And it doesn’t benefit anybody, I don’t think, to take that approach. It drags out the process. Lawyers get rich and the project gets delayed, and the community is unhappy and developers are unhappy,” Speigel said.

The muted reaction to the project may also be influenced by the company’s “triple bottom line” philosophy to ensure projects have positive social and environmental metrics in addition to meeting their financial requirements. 

The company is striving for Platinum LEED certification, which is rare for private developers.

For example, Windmill’s plans to install geothermal heating means there will be no mechanical floors at the top of the building, but rather a community vegetable garden and communal dining area. 

Speigel said the building will be clad with traditional brick because Birch Cliff is an established residential area and Windmill knows that’s what most typical residential communities want. 

The ground floor will also be designed for small, local businesses as opposed to chain stores in order to animate the streetscape.

“We love the fact that Kingston Road is already a great local shopping neighbourhood. And as part of the “One Planet Living” principles of local equity, we will certainly strive to find local retailers that will suit these spaces,” Speigel said.

“It seems like Windmill is more concerned about this project’s long term impact on the community than it is about maximizing its profits with another “burn and turn” type of project,” said local real estate agent David Patterson. “Community consultation and consideration goes a long way with Birch Cliffers, many of whom, like myself, have had their families situated here for several generations. As a real estate professional, my opinion may seem biased but as development is unavoidable, it’s welcoming to see a developer putting this much effort into the residents it directly impacts.”

The meeting was organized by Ward 20 Councillor Gary Crawford, who said the feedback his office is receiving about the project so far has little to do with opposition and is more focussed on points of clarification.

“It’s refreshing working with Windmill and other developers like that because I think they want to do what is best for communities. Ultimately, they’re developers and they need to look at their their bottom lines and profit margins and all that. But I think it’s nice to know that you do have developers out there that are not just driven by profit,” Crawford said.

Still concerns from local residents

While the vibe is positive, it doesn’t mean that Windmill is getting a free ride.

Members of the community asked dozens of questions at the meeting, including many about parking and traffic. Concern was expressed repeatedly that the building will have only 37 parking spaces for 56 units, which raises the possibility of more on-street parking.

Speigel said that parking standards across the City of Toronto now indicate that only 60% of condo dwellers actually buy and use parking stalls.

“In order to be a responsible developer these days, you don’t actually emphasize parking because that just puts more cars on the street. So they have a reduced parking supply. It’s an environmental good, quite frankly. Of course, the parking supply will also be reviewed by traffic planning staff at the City of Toronto to make sure that they’re okay with it and it’s sufficient for what they perceived the need is on the site. But we’re trying to keep the parking at a minimum.”

A question on traffic was handled by Tom Koskinas, one of the owners of Spiros & Sons Automotive Centre who has negotiated a financial interest in the new development. Koskinas said the service station currently has 600 cars coming through on a daily basis and he expects traffic will be reduced drastically once the new condo is built. 

“It’s good to hear from the community that there’s concern about this,” Speigel added. “Traffic movements onto Courcelette and onto this site will be examined by our traffic consultant. That’s something that our consultants will look at and we’ll take that into advisement.”

A number of people expressed concern that there’s no room in local schools for families with children who move into the new condo. The building is in the catchment area of Courcelette Public School which is at 135% capacity. Nearby Blantyre Public School is at 103% capacity.

Speigel said he didn’t think the development would have a big impact on local schools.  He said they would love to see children in the new condo but they don’t anticipate a lot of families moving in because the development is more suited to singles, young couples and retirees.

That didn’t assuage the concerns of Kim Dask, council chair of Courcelette Public School.

“I don’t think we can just rely on that assurance that that will be the case,” Dask said. “Because what if this development goes up and it does appeal to young families who might not be able to otherwise afford to live in the area? I think the trend of families of people raising families and condos is something that we’re going to see more and more. So I don’t know that we can just rely on the assurance that no, this likely won’t result in a lot of new families moving in.”

Applying for variances, not rezoning

One interesting fact revealed at the meeting is that Windmill is applying to the City of Toronto for variances to construct the eight-storey condo instead of planning to file a rezoning application.

That’s even though that stretch of Kingston Road is zoned for buildings with a minimum of two storeys and a maximum of six storeys, not exceeding an overall height of 20 metres.

It also stands in contrast to the process followed by other developers who’ve recently constructed taller condos in Birch Cliff.  Those developers had to apply for rezoning, which is a process that involves the city planning department and approvals from Scarborough Community Council and full City of Toronto Council.

If allowed to proceed through variances, the Windmill development will only require approvals from the planning department and Committee of Adjustment.

City of Toronto Planner, Kelsey Taylor, said rezoning applications are generally required when there’s a significant proposed change to the permitted zoning.

In the case of Windmill, Taylor said a decision was made to proceed via variances because the eight-storey development adheres to the spirit and intent of the current zoning as well as the Kingston Road Revitalization Plan.

If approved, Windmill hopes to begin construction in early 2022. The process is expected to take 18 to 20 months.