A massive three-tower development that would redefine the Coronation Avenue neighborhood has been rejected by the council. At least for now. The proposed development included towers proposed to reach 33, 27 and 20 storeys in height that sit atop a large pad that spans a land complex of more than a dozen properties from St Paul east to the corridor near Richter Street. As was the case with a proposed 46-storey tower on Bertram Street 18 months ago, planning staff presented this plan for “early consideration” by council before staff, and the developer is investing more resources and money into a complex that the manager project planner Terry Barton calls a file that “lies far beyond our existing policy framework. The overall development will include more than 700 units, including two towers of market rental units and some for-sale suites. It will also include an 85-room hotel and some ground floor retail. Barton says planning staff did not support the project because of the overall height, density and negative fit in a lower neighborhood. Burton also called the project “premature,” saying there are still so many unknowns when it comes to development in the area. He said it was the staff’s view that the project relied heavily on the UBCO tower, which is “not approved, not built and not working. “If UBCO is built, if the Kerkhoff building is built on the FSH site, if Mission Group’s 17-story rental tower is built in Bertam, if some of the other tower proposals come through and we’re talking five or 10 years down the line, it has more meaning this sentence – possibly? Saying no now, Kun. Luke Stack said he believed the development was too much for the site, especially for the single podium that would run the length of the development. He also suggested it would mean too much of a shift away from the new Official Community Plan. “I think it’s going to make the neighborhoods in that area and east of that area very uncomfortable, that we’re not following our OCP at all. We’re basically changing it significantly,” Stack said. While the township agreed with staff, they also left the door wide open for the developer to come back with something different later. They were mostly impressed with the unprecedented assembly of land required to put it together and were intrigued by what could happen after further discussions between the developer and the design staff. “I really like this project, but I think it’s beyond where it needs to be,” said Mayor Colin Basran. “I really encourage you to work with our design staff because an integration like this doesn’t happen very often. “We have a unique opportunity here that could be a win-win scenario, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”
