Condo on historic Ontario Street site nears approval

By Dennis Hanagan –

A 21-storey mixed-use building proposed for 25 Ontario St. at Adelaide St. E. will have to meet some conditions before the city will consider a zoning amendment application to allow it. The city wants a noise and emissions impact study regarding the SAS Building next door at 280 King St. E. before giving final site plan approval.

It also wants a plan that “fully interprets the heritage values” of the Drug Trading Company Administrative Office (DTCAO) that occupied 25 Ontario St. until the late 1980s.

The 2-storey structure was built in the 1940s and has since been renovated for other commercial users, the most recent being SunTV. It’s considered a good example of an office building from the Second World War era.

Also required is a lighting plan that describes how the DTCAO building will be “sensitively illuminated” at night to enhance the building’s heritage character.

Overall, the proposal includes the retention of DTCAO’s north and west walls, 198 underground parking spaces on five levels, commercial use on the ground floor, and a condominium with 219 dwelling units overtop. Appoximately 75 of the units would be 2-bedroom or larger.
The city’s planning department notes the proposal, with its heritage retention, represents “the type of built form that is consistent with the planning framework and emerging built form for this area of King-Parliament.”