Proposed downtown tower development to come before Kingston City Council

Editor's note: This story has been updated since it was initially published on Friday, Aug. 9, at 12:58 p.m. Please see the bottom of the article for the most recently updated information.

A new 25-storey mixed-use building is being proposed to bring more small homes to Kingston’s downtown, but it requires City Council’s approval of a zoning bylaw amendment.

At its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, Kingston City Council will consider an application for a zoning bylaw amendment submitted by IN8 Developments Inc. and Fotenn Planning + Design for the property municipally known as 64 Barrack Street and 235-237 Wellington Street. The developer would like to build a 25-storey mixed-use condominium building on the downtown site, which is currently a Goodlife Fitness building. Paige Agnew, the City's Commissioner of Growth & Development Services, recommended the application in a 184-page report to the City's Planning Committee. That report, part of the Thursday, Jul. 18, 2024, meeting of the Planning Committee, now comes before Council for approval.

The report states that the property is located in the North Block area of Kingston’s downtown, on a corner property fronting onto Wellington Street to the west and Barrack Street to the north. Approximately 0.17 hectares in size --- with approximately 82 metres of street frontage, given the corner lot configuration --- the property is currently developed with a two-storey building occupied by commercial and community uses, a Goodlife Fitness Centre unit which is addressed on Barrack Street, and two smaller units addressed on Wellington Street. (H'art Centre, which occupies one of the Barrack Street addressed units, very recently announced its move to the new Providence Village development at 1200 Princess Street.)

The report states that the applicants previously led a non-statutory (that is, not required by statute) open house, and the City Planning Committee held a community meeting in September of 2023. It also notes that the City's Official Plan recognizes that the North Block area is underdeveloped and states that it is a policy of Council to encourage the development of lands within the North Block area. The Official Plan provides policies for buildings up to 25.5 metres, with support for taller buildings where an urban design study justifies them. 

The City is facing significant development pressure due to the ongoing housing crisis and population increase, the report emphasizes, noting that the area selected for this build is physically separated from lower-scale residential uses, the natural landscape, and existing heritage properties, while also providing relatively large underutilized land that can support substantial development. Also, Council has previously recognized the importance of the North Block area as a prime location for investment and intensification.

Turning to the design of the proposed building, the report describes a “podium and tower form.” A setback is provided above “the podium,” or the base of the building, to separate and distinguish it from the tower above. The podium has generally been designed to be two storeys in height and is mostly red brick, conforming with the surrounding neighbourhood.

The report describes the residential tower above the podium as reaching a height of approximately 82 metres and having 25 storeys in total. The tower has been designed to differentiate itself from the podium, with a significant amount of glazing and projecting frame balconies to highlight and provide vertical articulation to the corner, according to Commissioner Agnew's report.

The report continues, explaining that the plan provides a mix of uses, with three commercial units on the ground floor, resulting in a total commercial area of 250 square metres. These commercial units would wrap the street-facing corner, with two units providing access from Wellington Street and one larger unit providing access from Barrack Street. 

From Barrack Street, residential pedestrian access is provided to 344 residential homes on floors three to 25. All the units have private balconies. A variety of communal spaces are also noted, including a fitness centre on the third storey, and a remote work centre, party room, and outdoor terraces on the fourth storey.

While the architecture is contemporary, the report notes that it is designed to be highly compatible with Kingston's evolving downtown and heritage building stock, and reinforces the North Block as an area of distinct character. The architects notably used a local heritage building, the Kingston Hydro downtown substation, as inspiration for the podium design. This can be seen in the building form, proportions, use of red brick, and tall arched windows that define the corner, the plans describe.

According to the report, the building will provide a total of 344 residential homes through floors three to 25. The floor plans propose a range of housing options: 98 homes (28 per cent) are proposed to be studio units, 200 homes (58 per cent) are proposed to be one-bedroom or one-bedroom plus den, and 46 homes (13 per cent) are proposed to be two-bedroom. This configuration results in a total of 390 bedrooms.The report notes that the mix aligns well with the recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force on housing, which identified a real need for one-bedroom and studio units in the city. Offerings elsewhere in the North Block currently include a high number of two-bedroom units.

The report notes that an original submission proposed four levels of underground parking, whereas the current proposal has two storeys of underground parking and one within the second storey of the podium. This change was required to account for limitations in underground parking feasibility related to water level constraints that were identified following the community meeting. The underground parking area is to be accessed from the east side of Barrack Street to the down ramp, and the second-storey parking would be accessed to the south side of Wellington Street underneath the cantilever portion of the podium.

A shadowing study included with the report found that during spring and fall equinoxes, shadows would move quickly across surrounding properties as a result of the slender profile of the tower. Between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., residential, mixed-use properties along Wellington and Rideau Streets will experience brief periods of shadow in the morning hours, with the shadow being fully off of these properties before noon, the report states. Over the course of the afternoon, between 2 and 6 p.m., shadows are entirely off those residential properties to the east and pass for a short time on the abutting property and the abutting parking lot, as well as further to Slush Puppie Place towards the end of the day.

The report notes that citizens had expressed concerns at the meeting and in writing that the building would impact views from existing homes and protected views, and that the proposed height represents visual intrusion, is not of a human scale, and/or is visually incompatible. 

According to the report, the proposed development will not impede any of the protected views, as shown on Schedule Nine of the Official Plan. And more generally, views to and from existing properties are otherwise not protected by the policy in recognition of the dynamic nature of the downtown urban area, the report argues. 

How the building fits into the downtown skyline is an important consideration in the report, as well. The Official Plan seeks to protect the silhouette of City Hall and its prominence in the skyline. The report, which includes a mock-up of where the building would impact various views of the City, says that the skyline is changed, but not significantly and not around City Hall.

The report concludes that the proposal represents a compatible mixed-use development in an area for which the planning context allows for and anticipates increased height and density. The development supports Council's goals related to intensification within the urban boundary, as well as modal share shifts (changes in transportation types) in response to a changing climate. The proposed zoning bylaw amendment is consistent with provincial policy direction, conforms to the relevant policies of the Official Plan, and represents good land use planning in the public interest, according to Agnew's report.

Should Council approve the application for zoning bylaw amendment, a future hold removal will still be required, and the detailed site and building design will be further reviewed through the site plan control process. Finally, the report notes that the applicant has indicated that the building is intended to accommodate condominium units for which a final plan of condominium application is required, and which would be brought back to the Planning Committee at a future date. 

This report will be discussed at the Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 meeting of Kingston City Council. The agenda from this meeting can be found on the City of Kingston's council meetings webpage, and the meeting can be viewed in its entirety on the Kingston City Council YouTube channel. Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month (except in July and August, when it meets once each month) at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at Kingston City Hall, 216 Ontario Street.

Update (Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 10:46 a.m.):

The report was received and adopted without discussion just after the third hour of the Regular meeting of the Council on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.