Uovo Boutique Residences have been under construction at the southwest corner of Hillsdale Avenue West and Yonge Street in Toronto's Midtown for many months now. While a crane stands above the already dug pit, and is assisting in the forming of the three underground levels, work is also being carried out to potentially increase the size and height of the future building from 10 to 12 storeys.  

Peering through the fence to work being done on the underground levels of Uovo, image by UT Forum contributor Domenico

Designed by RAW Design, the mixed-use condo was originally approved in 2015 at 10 storeys,  but the owner is now asking for more after The Davisville – a more recent building proposal immediately to the south of it – was granted 12 storeys.

This is not the first time that a height increase has been applied for, for Ouvo, however. In 2018, on behalf of the owner, The Sher Corp who were managing the project at the time, applied to have the building height increased to 11 storeys, while also decreasing its number of residential units from 73 to 67 larger units. That application was ultimately rejected. Now, the owner is making the argument that the policy and development context in this part of Midtown Toronto has changed significantly since Council’s decision on the rezoning application in 2015, which imposed height restrictions on new buildings being proposed, with a maximum of 10 storeys allowed. 

Prior to approving the updated Secondary Plan in July of 2019, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing significantly modified the Plan that imposed this height restriction, replacing prescriptive height limits with general height ranges. The Ministry-approved version of the Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan currently in-effect now identifies buildings in the range of 8-15 storeys for the Yonge Street South Character Area, where Uovo is located.

Previous, 11-storey version of Uovo, image by RAW for The Sher Corporation

As a result, the owner has submitted a Minor Variance application to Toronto's Committee of Adjustment, to have the double-storey height increase approved, specifically asking for the overall building height to go from 37.79 metres to 42.80 metres. 

A Minor Variance is a minor change to a performance standard under the Zoning By-law, that can be granted by the Committee of Adjustment, provided that in the opinion of the Committee, the request actually is minor in nature, is desirable for the appropriate development or use of the land, building, or structure, and if in the opinion of the Committee, maintains the general intent and purpose of the Zoning By-law and the Official Plan.

The hearing by the Committee is not yet scheduled, but if approved, would allow not only the height of the building to increase, but also the total unit count to go up from 67 units to 70 units, and the total parking count to decrease by two spots, from 60 to 58.

Looking southwest to the redesigned Uovo, with The Davisville to the left, image by RAW

The owner appears confident, though, as they have also applied for Site Plan Approval (SPA) from the City for the redesign. Within the SPA submission are the following changes to the 10-storey building: floors five and seven have been duplicated to create new sixth and ninth floors in the podium and tower portions respectively; the retail level has been increased in height by 1.44 metres to 7.65 metres – thereby facilitating the introduction of a new mezzanine level with 115m² of additional retail space; and one residential unit on the 2nd Floor has been partially converted to amenity space for a total of 280m² split between indoor and outdoor amenity space – amongst other small changes.

East Elevation of approved 10-storey building and proposed 12-storey building for 2114 Yonge Street, image from MV application

We will be keeping an eye out for the results of the hearing to determine what the fate of Uovo's height will be, but in the meantime, you can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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This story has been republished to correct mentions in regard to the ownership history.

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