Mt. Pleasant and Manor Rd. development slides into home base

It is relatively smooth sailing forward for the developer of an eight-storey building at Manor and Mt. Pleasant roads.

Panterra Federated Properties Corp has entered into an agreement with the city’s Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) for the site at 630 and 650 Mt. Pleasant Rd.

The proposal has changed since a community meeting held last fall, so St. Paul’s Councillor Michael Walker (Ward 22) called a second community public meeting on St. Patrick’s Day. Despite some confusion, by some over which church the March 17 meeting was to be held at, more than 60 locals showed up at Church of the Transfiguration on Manor Rd.

This meeting was not as heated as the last one. But some issues that are outstanding are "making sure that any lighting doesn’t spill over onto the other properties. They will bring in a lighting specialist and put in fencing and plantings (to help with this)," explained Walker.

Another issue is that people don’t use a proposed laneway as a shortcut and speed through it. Walker is suggesting speed humps or bumps as a traffic calming measure.

Walker would like to see the penthouse on the eighth floor scaled back and lots of mature trees planted on Manor Rd. to replace some of the aging and damaged ones to maintain a nice tree canopy.

The idea of burying existing hydro cables was a suggestion at the meeting, and Walker told the crowd it is not the developer’s responsibility. However, he told the Town Crier it is possible to do this during construction.

The Millennium seniors’ group is looking to buy up maybe 20 units, said Walker.

While this development does request more density and height than is allowed, it is not by much. Both the official plan and zoning bylaw call for 3 times coverage at this site. Local bylaws call for a maximum of 16 metres or 5.5 storeys, while this proposal requests 24.5 metres/eight storeys and 4.63 times coverage.

Walker and city staff are negotiating some section 37 community benefits. Call Walker’s office if you have any suggestions.

Overall, Walker said: "There is enough merit to float this forward."

One of the benefits to this development is that it will increase the parking in the area.

The city-owned TPA owns this site, which is currently a surface parking lot with 39 spots. However, the deal to sell it is firm, said Lorne Persiko, director of real estate and development for the parking authority.

"The deadline for closing is the end of the year," he told the Town Crier.

So what is in it for the city and TPA?

The price of the site is confidential, said Persiko. This is typical whenever the city sells or buys land, but once the deal is closed the public can find out details through a land title search, he said.

What is known is the profit and the cost for TPA to replace the parking spots in an underground garage. Originally, as part of the agreement, TPA got a discounted rate of $18,000 per 40 spots for a total cost of $720,000. This is paid for by proceeds from the TPA.

The remaining profit from this sale, minus the cost of parking is $3.86 million.

However, the parking authority now plans to add an additional 30 spaces to the proposed underground facility. These spaces cost $27,500 each for a total of $825,000. So the profit is now $3.035 million.

The plan also calls for 15,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor, explained Sheldon D. Rosen, president of Panterra. In this case, the development is going by the company name Chateau Royal.

"We are now heading towards a final planning report and it will go to council in June. Most of the negotiating is done," he told the Town Crier.

He likes this location because it is in an established, stable neighbourhood. He said the new retail will keep Mt. Pleasant Rd. vibrant similar to Bloor St. W. or Bayview Ave.

He sees the potential condo owners as empty-nesters as well as people under 40. Most of the sales calls the developer is getting, so far, are from local residents. He expects to start construction this December or January 2005. The parking facility should be open by June 2006.

"I think this community is vibrant and . . . will be really astonished at how beautiful it will be," he says.

Rosen, who is an architect himself, is winning points on the style of the building designed by Page & Steele Architects. He is also winning over residents with his willingness to listen to their concerns.