Community Consultation Meeting for six-storey building proposal at Queen and Lee to take place virtually on Sept. 16

By AMARACHI AMADIKE

The City of Toronto is gearing up to host a Community Consultation Meeting for a development proposal at 2026-2040 Queen St. E. on Monday, Sept. 16, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The developer, Crombie REIT and Sobeys Inc., proposes the demolition of the two-storey mixed-use building located at the northwest corner of Queen Street East and Lee Avenue. The building is presently home to the Foodland grocery store and the development site includes buildings to the west of it as well.

If approved, it will be replaced with a six-storey, 5,728-square-metre building which will bring 60 residential dwelling units to the neighbourhood. These include 40 one-bedroom units, 14 two-bedroom units, and six three-bedroom units.

There will also be 1,140 square metres reserved as a retail space that will front Queen Street East as well as 33 vehicular parking spaces. It is expected that the building’s retail space will contain a much larger grocery store than the current Foodland, though it is not known which of the Sobeys’ grocery store banners it will operate under.

In an earlier story on this proposal, the applicant’s website said the tenure of the residential units “will likely be condominium” but that will be “determined later in the process.” The applicant’s website also said: “Affordable units aren’t required on a site of this size, and none are proposed at this time.”

Although there has been much anticipation surrounding the consultation meeting, as it stands, community consultation surrounding this site will only take place virtually as no in-person meetings have been scheduled.

With the project’s site sitting in a part of the Beach that boasts importance to many in the community, it is expected there will be opposition from some residents who want to keep the neighbourhood’s history intact even though the buildings proposed to be demolished are not protected under heritage rights.

According to officials, the virtual meeting is due to the fact that many Toronto residents have expressed a preference for virtual meetings in order to “facilitate easier participation”.

During a series of public consultations hosted across Toronto earlier this year with the aim of figuring out how to best facilitate future meetings, the City of Toronto found that although many residents prefer in-person interactions with city staff, attributes such as time-saving and flexibility have made online meetings a preference for a large number of constituents.

“In a recent city staff report, staff noted the results of a recent survey regarding community consultation and found that “virtual consultation may help the City manage its timeline and how much staff and applicant effort is required,” read a statement from Councillor Brad Bradford’s office.

“This is why it has been the preferred option of City Planning for the vast majority of applications across the city – and City Planning handles the logistics and arrangements for all of these consultation sessions.”

Anyone who would like to share their opinions on the development is encouraged to join the virtual meeting via a link that will be provided at https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/get-involved/public-consultations/city-planning-consultations/

There will also be an opportunity to join by calling 416-915-6530 and entering the meeting code 2630 406 2991.

For more information on this development, contact City Planner Raymond Tung at raymond.tung@toronto.ca, or Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford at councillor_bradford@toronto.ca