Application has been made to the City of Toronto to redevelop the property at 595-601 Parliament Street to add three storeys of residential space, to create 11 units, above the existing two-storey retail property.
Details can be found through the city’s Application Information Centre. Kelly Sather, Constituency Assistant for Ward 28, says to make sure “Community Planning” is selected. A searchable city map comes up and enter the address “595 Parliament Street”, which will take you to the online documents provided by the developer.
A thorough (24-page) Heritage Impact Assessment (link opens a PDF) prepared by ERA Architects contains a good overview of the project.
To quote from the assessment’s executive summary:
“The Development Site is occupied by a two storey white brick and concrete block commercial building, constructed circa 1975. The property is not listed on the City of Toronto’s Heritage Register or designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The Development Site is located adjacent to the Cabbagetown North and the Cabbagetown-Metcalfe Area Heritage Conservation Districts (HCD). The Cabbagetown Northwest HCD is located to the west of Parliament Street. Additionally, several buildings located on the west side of Parliament, across the street, are listed on the City’s Heritage Register.
“The proposal involves the adaptive reuse of the existing building, including the addition of three new floors, for a mix of commercial and residential uses. Residential uses are proposed for the upper three floors, while retail tenants will be accommodated on the first and second floors of the building. The exterior of the building will be fully redesigned and will be clad with stone, red brick and precast concrete trim.
“Recessed balconies are proposed for the third storey of the street-facing façade, and for the central portions of the north and south elevations of the third, fourth, and fifth floors. The three new upper floors of the building will step back within a 45 degree angle away from both Parliament Street and at the rear façade away from the two adjacent Heritage Conservation Districts.”
Jason Brander is the city planner reviewing this file: If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach him at 416-338-2577 or by email at jason.brander@toronto.ca.
3 replies on “Development plans for 595 Parliament Street under review”
Increased density on main streets is a good thing. The City began advocating for it years ago. Needless to say, adjacent communities objected for all the usual reasons so progress in achieving this goal had been exceedingly slow. There are, nevertheless, examples on College Street, Queen St. East, Mount Pleasant Rd., Ossington, etc. The existing building is of no architectural merit. Therefore I support the concept. Regrettably, no visuals are provided to illustrate the proposal.
Hi Ross,
If you click through the 10MB .pdf, there are architectural renders of the proposed building on the last few pages. It reminds me of the Starbucks building at Aberdeen & Parliament.
I agree density is a good thing, the existing building isn’t heritage, and Parliament can handle a 4-5 story building with setbacks like this.
Yes, this looks really good to me. The present building doesn’t add a lot to the streetscape, and the redesign looks much more friendly and inviting. And certainly adding residential is a good idea!