Major Trinity high-rise development approved at Rideau and Chapel

25-storey development takes advantage of the new density transfer concept

By Robert Tritt

On February 10, City Council approved in principle a large devel­opment that will see two 25-storey residen­tial towers built above a large, two-level retail shopping centre on the site of the former Con­gregation Beth Shalom Synagogue at Rideau and Chapel St. It is the first of several new mixed-use develop­ments that are expected to come forward as a re­sult of a new Commu­nity Development Plan (CDP) adopted last fall for Uptown Rideau St.

Trinity, which is be­hind the new development at Lansdowne Park, first submitted an application to develop the site in 2014. The recently-approved application is a scaled-back ver­sion of Trinity’s first application and is in line with the provisions of the new CDP.

The development has 850 resi­dential units in the two towers and 80,000sqf of retail space. The project takes advantage of the new CDP’s controversial concept of “density transfer,” which al­lows for towers exceeding nine storeys under certain conditions, including setting aside additional public space. As is required by the CDP provisions, the development includes a public park at the cor­ner of Beausoleil, a public plaza at corner of Rideau and Chapel and new landscaping features along Chapel St.

For the retail space, the pro­posed tenants are a liquor store on the ground level, a food store and retail on the second level, and a Dollar store in the lower level.

The most controversial aspect of the project is its proposal to re-open to traffic the cul-de-sac at Beausoleil and Chapel. Trinity argues that the recent redesign of Rideau St. makes it impractical for residents, retail shoppers or deliv­ery vehicles to access the site only from Rideau St. and that traffic also must also be allowed to turn onto Chapel from Beausoleil.

Residents concerned about open­ing Chapel-Beausoleil cul-de-sac

Residents of Sandy Hill fear that opening the intersection at Beau­soleil will encourage cut-through traffic, especially by north-bound commuters using Chapel St. as an alternative route between the Queensway and the MacKenzie King Bridge. Others are concerned about the impact that opening the intersection will have on children attending the nearby York Street and Ste-Anne public schools, par­ticularly because of the large de­livery vehicles that will need to access the site.

In a 2015 letter to the City plan­ner, Action Sandy Hill submits that “we have observed that over half of traffic currently on Chapel St. in the PM peak is Quebec-plat­ed traffic heading back towards Quebec. Much of this traffic would find an opened Chapel-Beausoleil intersection as an attractive route to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge. In the study, the [Trinity] consul­tant has made no attempt to quan­tify this. Similarly, the consultant did not consider the traffic on Nelson St., the only other street opened to the north of Rideau St. This street currently carries a vol­ume of traffic many times higher than what the consultant predicts for Chapel-Beausoleil and over 50% of this is Quebec plated traf­fic. Some of this traffic would also find an opened Chapel-Beausoleil intersec­tion an attractive route. It is our view then that the resultant cut-through traf­fic volumes through the Chapel-Beau­soleil intersection and along Beausoleil drive would greatly exceed the actual site generated traffic that the consultant has estimated as would use this inter­section.”

Because of these concerns, Councillor Fleury asked Council to withhold final approval until either Trinity agrees to allow the intersection to remain closed or comes up with satisfactory measures to deal with the impact of opening the intersection. These could include, for example, restricting the times trucks can access the site, posting crossing guards and requiring all north-bound traffic on Chapel to turn at Rideau St during peak hours.

The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) will review the project March 28, at a hearing that was scheduled last year, before the details of Trinity’s revised proposal were known. Since the City is now supporting the application, the OMB is expected to approve the development with no major changes. However, the hearing will provide an opportunity to review the issue of whether or not the cul-de-sac at Chapel and Beausoleil should be opened and, if so, under what conditions.