After six and a half years of planning applications and appeal processes, we have finality on the two towers proposed by Homestead in the North Block along Queen Street – they are approved with no further appeal processes standing in the way.

The Divisional Court just released their final decision on an appeal request from the Frontenac Heritage Foundation – the Divisional Court decision refuses the request and upholds the November 2021 decision from the Ontario Land Tribunal (the OLT or the Tribunal) approving the two towers. The decision allows a new 19-storey building on Block 3 (51-57 Queen Street) and a 23-storey building on Block 5 (18 Queen Street and 282 Ontario Street). Collectively, the two towers will introduce approximately 400 new residential units, new commercial/museum space and new office space to a key area in our downtown that is targeted by our Official Plan for growth and intensification.

I previously wrote about these applications in a series of blog posts covering the original Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (now the OLT) decision (Understanding the August 9 North Block LPAT ruling on August 18, 2019), the decision ordering a new hearing (Outcome of the Section 35 Review for the North Block: LPAT orders a new hearing on January 10, 2020) and the final decision from the OLT (To Get Better Planning Decisions, We Need to Get the Facts Right on November 9, 2021).

The Divisional Court decision summarizes the lengthy application background and  confirms that the Tribunal’s decision “framed its consideration of the proposed redevelopment in terms of the need to balance heritage and intensification”. It acknowledges that the City “has designated certain areas in the downtown core as Heritage Conservation Districts or Heritage Character Areas. The City has targeted other areas in the same downtown core for growth and intensification, to respond to housing and employment needs, and to contribute to a vital and robust community.”

It also reiterates an important element of the evidence that was presented at the OLT, stating “According to unchallenged expert evidence submitted to the Tribunal, the economic conditions in Kingston's downtown are fragile and Homestead's proposed development is an important component in the City's plans for its economic recovery.” These two towers will help to ensure the economic heart of our City, our downtown, will remain economically viable by adding more housing, commercial, cultural and office spaces.

Why is the economic recovery of the downtown vital to the City overall and why should every resident of Kingston care about this? This YouTube video is a must watch – it explains this idea better than I ever could in a blog post. In June of 2021, we provided Council with the Lifecycle Fiscal Impacts of Development report, which looked that this exact idea in Kingston – spoiler alert – the statements in the YouTube video are spot-on for Kingston too.

This decision supports the professional opinions provided by City staff, both to Council and to the Ontario Land Tribunal, and confirms that our downtown can evolve with large scale intensification projects in the right locations without impacting the important cultural heritage resources we value as a City.

The Divisional Court decision, when speaking to the previous Capitol Theatre redevelopment decision (IN8 and Burfoot), clarifies that the future vision for the North Block is different than that specific area of the Princess Street by stating:

“Lastly, Frontenac contends that the Tribunal should have rejected the proposed development because, in IN8 and Burfoot, it held that proposals to build high-rise towers in downtown Kingston were incompatible with the Official Plan's objective of preserving Kingston's unique heritage character. There is no general prohibition, either in the Official Plan or in the Tribunal's previous decisions, on the construction of high rises in downtown Kingston.”

These buildings represent a positive evolution for planning in Kingston. The two towers will redevelop two contaminated properties and revitalize this area by bringing a significant number of new housing units close to diverse commercial, employment and recreation options. They will help to achieve our climate action and sustainability goals by bringing more population to an area that does not rely on cars to get to places we work, live and play. They will introduce new museum space, commercial opportunities and office spaces that will help to further the vitality and the long-term economy of our downtown and City overall. The buildings are well designed and will make this stretch of Queen Street more comfortable for pedestrians with human-scaled architecture along the street. They will bring exciting new commercial and pedestrian activity to an area that is currently covered by uninviting parking lots.

Perhaps most importantly, the approval of these towers confirms that the vision and intentions of the City’s Official Plan is for heritage and intensification to work harmoniously. Some people may never agree with the Official Plan on this point, but in downtown Kingston, the two rely on each other and are both vital for the long-term success of our community.