A new 10-storey residential-commercial development is being proposed in Peterborough’s East City, to be located adjacent to Mark Street United Church at 90 Hunter Street East.
Some neighbouring residents have received a invitation to a public open house from Peterborough’s EcoVue Consulting Services Inc. on behalf of Toronto-based developer TVM Group, the company behind two other nearby East City developments: East City Condos and the St. Joseph’s Hospital redevelopment.
The public open house will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday (June 20) at Mark Street United Church.
“Applications have not yet been submitted as the proponent is first undertaking (a) technical review and seeking feedback from the public,” states the letter inviting neighbours to attend the public open house, noting it is not a “public meeting pursuant to the Planning Act” because an application for the development has not yet been submitted to the City of Peterborough.
“The developer’s consulting team will be on hand to answer questions,” the letter states. “There will be no formal presentation and attendees may come and go as they please.”
According to the letter, TVM Group is proposing to develop a 10-storey, mixed-use building with commercial space on the ground floor, a parking garage on parts of the first and second floor, and 156 apartment units on the remaining seven floors.
The development would be constructed to the west of the original Mark Street United Church building, in an area currently occupied by a 1957 addition to the church building. The original church building would remain and would be severed from the proposed development. The development would include 43.6 metres (143.1 feet) of frontage on Hunter Street East.
According to a 2024 report from the East Central Ontario Regional Council of the United Church of Canada, the board of trustees of Mark Street United Church entered into an agreement with TVM Group to exchange church property for rental condominium units in the East City Condos development valued at $2 million, “plus the construction of a new hall as approved by the congregation at no cost to Mark Street United Church.” The church’s website states that four rental units at East City Condos will be available for occupancy this summer
In September 2019, planning consultant Kevin Duguay (who was elected to Peterborough city council in 2022) represented the church’s board of trustees during a meeting of the city’s committee of adjustment for an application to sever two lots owned by the church, which contain two residential buildings on Mark Street just north of the church’s parking lot. That application was approved. The two lots are not part of the property for the proposed development.
