Is the Ossington strip about to become a victim of its own success?
In recent years the stretch north of Queen West has undergone a booming transition that has seen an influx of trendy restaurants, bars, and art galleries, and, several nights a week, hordes of young people from across the city eager to drink in the night life.
Now Toronto developer Reserve Properties is turning Ossington’s fashionable image into the main selling point for a six-storey, 86-unit condo that, should it win city approval, will squeeze between the modest brick facades that currently line the street by 2014. Dubbed 109OZ, the building’s promotional material promises buyers “non-stop art, resto-bars seemingly known only to the locals, [and] live music spilling out into the streets.”
But some local residents warn that the relaxed neighbourhood character that Reserve is using as a marketing tool would be destroyed if the condo is built. A packed city-run consultation meeting at the Trinity Recreation Centre Monday night got heated as residents pushed back against the developer’s plans, with some booing the company’s responses to area concerns, according to Twitter accounts of the event.
Locals argue the building, which would exceed existing zoning bylaws by two stories, is too large for the site at Ossington and Argyle, and fear that its ground-floor retail space will be occupied by a single chain store that will push out the strip’s independent shops.
“If you put this kind of midrise building up on Ossington, which is a low-rise stretch, it will destroy the Ossington vibe,” said Benj Hellie, a spokesperson for residents’ group Smart Growth for Ossington, in an interview before the meeting.
Hellie calls the condo a “party building” and is concerned that the young clientele that Reserve is apparently aiming to attract will only add to the problems of a district that is already at maximum capacity some weekend nights. Of the condo’s 86 units, all but 16 would be one-bedroom apartments. Hellie and others would prefer a more family-friendly development.
“What makes for good urban living is when people can go in an area and stay in the area, put down roots and have kids,” Hellie said. “But this is a style of development that encourages people to move every five years.”
Local councillor Mike Layton shares some of the residents group’s concerns, but says that if Toronto is going to avoid the scourge of urban sprawl, main streets like Ossington will need to see denser development. He’s less certain though that new residential buildings need to be as big as 109OZ.
“Density isn’t a bad word. Putting some density onto our more main streets is solid planning,” Layton says. “The concern is it’s a large site, it will be an overpowering presence.”
Layton too is worried that a glut of younger residents will further fuel the bar and restaurant scene, and will lead to an unbalanced neighbourhood. “Entertainment uses are fine, but it only animates the street at night,” he says.
But Reserve vice-president Shane Fenton says the condo would be an asset to Ossington. He argues that low-rise zoning restrictions should no longer apply in an area that has seen such rapid development, and that the condo would be an improvement over what was previously on the site.
“It’s going to have an extremely positive impact,” Fenton says. “We’re taking a used car lot and an old mechanic shop, in conjunction with a not-so-operational warehouse and a shut-down Portuguese night club… and we’re bringing in residents and people who want to live in the neighbourhood.”
According to Fenton, most of the condo’s buyers so far are between the ages of 25 to 49, and many are young couples. Despite not yet having city approval, the project is already 50 per cent sold out.
Fenton says that while he’s open to hearing feedback from the community, he’s unlikely to budge on the building’s size, which he’s adamant is appropriate to the burgeoning district. He does say however that it’s “likely” the retail space will house several tenants, instead of the single chain store feared by some in the community.
Layton plans to hold several more consultations before the zoning bylaw change the condo requires goes before city council for final approval, which he says will be sometime before the end of the year.
