Three problematic housing applications
What do YOU want Council to do?
1 — Princess to Queen Street, along Clergy - 16 storeys, 612 bedrooms
Image from the developer’s submission to the city. The proposed building as seen from Princess Street
People may recognize this location as the former McDonald’s restaurant site on Princess Street and Blockbuster / Cross-fit gym site on Queen Street.
The developer, Campus Suites Inc., wants to build a student residence with 612 bedrooms. The proposed building would be 16-storeys (62.8 m) with a lower building sitting behind the storefronts on Princess Street. The developer is proposing a total of eight parking spaces — 2 accessible spaces, 2 car share spaces, and 4 visitor spaces.
The building would be across the street from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, one of 13 designated heritage buildings surrounding the proposed high-rise.
This new proposal is similar to the 2015 proposal for 16-storey building at 223 Princess Street, a block and a half down the hill. That proposal ended up at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal where the adjudicator ruled that the height of the building would overwhelm the surrounding area with its height, mass, and shadowing and have “adverse impacts” on the heritage character of the downtown area that is protected by specific Official Plan policies.
The developer appealed the Tribunal’s “no-go” decision to the Ontario Superior Court.
Three judges of the Superior Court ruled that the Tribunal had correctly balanced “the permissive nature of intensification policy with the restrictive confines of heritage policy and the importance of the heritage character in this part of downtown Kingston.” (paragraph 25) They found no error of law in the Tribunal’s interpretation of the Official Plan.
The same Official Plan policies that applied to the now-completed 9-storey 223 Princess Street building (Crown Condos) are still in place today with respect to this 16-storey proposal.
Kingston resident, Kate Thomas, recently wrote to the city about this new proposal. “Why do we bother having an “official plan” if it is ignored and overridden every time a developer applies? It begs the patience of citizens who trust, and requires huge amounts of volunteer time and effort to keep the City and developers honest and thinking about our ostensible pride in our ‘heritage’ city.”
Members of the public can find out more about this new proposal and speak to it at the Community Meeting of Planning Committee this Thursday, January 15, beginning at 6 pm. This is (1) an in-person meeting taking place in Council Chambers at City Hall, (2) a Zoom meeting requiring registration for people who want to speak to the Committee from a remote location, and (3) available to watch on the City’s YouTube channel. The meeting agenda is here.
The Tribunal rejection of the 16-storey building at 223 Princess Street can be read here.
The Ontario Superior Court decision finding no error in law in the Tribunal’s decision can be read here.
2 — Princess Street between Alfred and Chatham Streets - two buildings with an aerial walkway across Alfred Street
From a document submitted by the developer who is proposing a bridge over Albert Street at the fourth floor level to connect the two residential buildings
The proposal is for two buildings with 800 bedrooms. One building is to the west of Alfred Street. The other sits between Alfred and Chatham Streets. John’s Deli used to be in the plaza there.
The bridge would connect the fourth floors of the two buildings, travelling over Alfred Street.
According to the planning justification written by Fotenn planners for the developer:
“The proposed pedestrian bridge will be suspended over Alfred Street approximately 13.6 metres above the street. The bridge will be enclosed and weather protected and will connect residents between the common interior amenity areas on the fourth floor of each building. It is intended that the amenity areas in each building will be designed with distinct programming to broaden the available amenity area for residents of each building.
The pedestrian bridge will offer a truly unique opportunity to create a landmark feature in the city. The proposed bridge will contribute to placemaking along the Princess Street Corridor and along Alfred Street, representing the first pedestrian bridge of its kind in the city. The pedestrian bridge is anticipated to be constructed with primarily transparent materials, providing views from the bridge to the surrounding city fabric, and encouraging a unique interaction between the street and the bridge.” [emphasis added]
While Kingston does not currently have any bridges across public air space, it does have an Encroachment Bylaw covering items such as dumpsters, fences, and signage that intrude from a private property onto public space. It is administered by the Manager of Engineering.
John Grenville, an active member of the Williamsville Community Association, questions the benefit that Kingston residents will get “for providing public space (the area above the public roadway) for private use by a for-profit corporation.” He notes that Alfred Street is a Green Street according to the Williamsville Main Street plan in the city’s Official Plan and is supposed to be a tree-lined corridor that encourages active transportation.
Council will have to decide if the private bridge above Alfred Street is acceptable as a free benefit to the developer. Is it good planning? Should the developer have to pay an annual fee for this use of public space as happens in other cities?
3 — The triangle building at York, Ordnance, and Barrie Streets
From the developer’s planning justification report submitted to the city
This building is kitty corner to McBurney Park (Skeleton Park) and was the former home of Community Midwives of Kingston and before that the Victoria Order of Nurses.
The first development proposal was to re-purpose this one-storey commercial site to a three-storey, 13 m high, residential building with 22 bedrooms in 9 units.
A Planning Committee meeting took place on July 17, 2025 where speakers raised concerns about the number of people to be housed on the small triangle lot, the shadowing onto neighbouring homes from the proposed three-storey building, balconies and stairways intruding into public space, and how garage and snow clearing will be managed when the building is almost at the lot line. The minutes for the July meeting are here.
Jill Bryant lives nearby and says that “the site is a triangle with streets on all sides, a traffic island. It is hard to imagine how a 3-storey building could function safely here for the people living in it and the surrounding neighbours.”
David Kay, the developer, says that he continues to go “back and forth with the city” to come to an agreement with planning staff on an acceptable building proposal. Residents continue to learn about how city planning policies apply to this property, including the North King’s Town Secondary Plan and the St. Lawrence Ward Heritage Character Area. They hope to convince councillors that their decision needs to respect the Official Plan and planning policies and to require a more compatible and appropriate building proposal for this tiny lot.
From Google maps - the currently one-story triangular building is between the red line on Barrie Street and the green line on Ordinance
Contact information for the Mayor and your city councillor
Countryside Councillor Gary Oosterhof goosterhof@cityofkingston.ca 613 453 3235
Trillium Councillor Jimmy Hassan jhassan@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 2324
Meadowbrook-Strathcona Councillor Jeff McLaren jmclaren@cityofkingston.ca 613 888 4327
Portsmouth Councillor Don Amos damos@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 2153
Williamsville Councillor Vincent Cinanni vcinanni@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 3593
Pittsburgh Councillor Ryan Boehme rnboehme@cityofkingston.ca 613 888 3924
Loyalist-Cataraqui Councillor Paul Chaves pchaves@cityofkingston.ca 613 331 6995
Collins-Bayridge Councillor Lisa Osanic losanic@cityofkingston.ca 613 389 7336 Lakeside
Councillor Wendy Stephen wstephen@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 2250
Kingscourt-Rideau Councillor Brandon Tozzo btozzo@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 2529
Sydenham Councillor Conny Glen cglenn@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 3731
King’s Town Councillor Gregory Ridge gridge@cityofkingston.ca 613 217 3687
Mayor Bryan Paterson mayor@cityofkingston.ca 613 546 4291 ext. 1400
Thank you for your reporting
Thank you for your efforts! The city should not do business with David Kay. In his last failed investment property, he lied to the city about including affordable units so he could get exemptions for the number of parking spaces and how close he could build to the sidewalk. Once it was built with the city's money, he reneged. A lien was put on the building and he sold it without disclosing to the buyers that the place was hopelessly infested with bedbugs and cockroaches.