GUELPH — At 716 Gordon Street, Society Developments, the owner and developer of the project proposes to construct four rental apartment buildings with 6,8,9, and 11-storey buildings with a 3-4-storey podium connecting each tower on 4.2 acres of land.
The buildings would consist of 532 residential units, totalling 1,149 bedrooms, with the 11-storey tower (the tallest) being a maximum height of 37.53m.
Society Developments has several completed projects in Ontario. Two examples of Society Developments completed projects include 1235 Richmond Street, London, a 19-storey highrise, and 330 Phillip Street, Waterloo, with two towers at 25-storeys and a 7-storey podium in the middle.
The proposal includes units ranging in size from 1 to 4 bedrooms, equalling 676 bedrooms per hectare, along with 90 square metres of commercial space (presented as a cafe) on the ground floor.
Five primary pedestrian accesses are provided for the proposal, along with 303 parking spaces for residents and visitors. A surface lot will provide 18 parking spaces, and two levels of underground parking will provide 285 parking spaces.
Also, 590 long- and short-term bicycle spaces were provided, with the long-term spaces indoor and the short-term spaces indoor and outdoor.
The proposal also includes several amenity spaces for the subject lands, including gardens, outdoor rooftop space on the podiums connecting towers A-B, B-C and C-D, a courtyard, a court for games, and dining and seating areas.
Society Developments had revised the original proposal for the project and oered an updated version to city sta. Planning staff supported the proposed and modified requests, and the next step was for the Council to decide whether to approve them.
A Council meeting was held On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, which discussed the topic of the modified Zoning By-Law and Official Plan amendments for this proposed application, where GSP Group Inc. represented Society Developments.
The Council supported the Zoning By-Law and Official Plan amendments in a vote at the meeting.
Sta approved the amendment for permitting a zone change from the current specialized ‘High-Density Residential Apartment’ (R.4B-14) and ((RH.7-4(PA)) zones to revised specialized ‘High-Density Residential Apartment’ with holding provisions, (R.4B-14 (H)) and (RH.7-4(PA)(H)) zones.
The proposed amendments also contained requested regulations, such as increasing the maximum density per hectare from 156 units to 676 bedrooms per hectare, allowing a front yard setback at the corner of Stone Road East and Gordon Street to 6.7m from the required 9m, and allowing the site not to be a designated student residence, which it currently is.
The Council approved the requested regulations as well, but holding provisions remain for the site. An application will need to be submitted to remove the holding provisions to carry along the next steps of the development.
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