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“I am thrilled,” Mr. Lamb said of the outcome, which recently got a “rubber stamp” from the OMB to proceed.

When it first came up for approval in March, city staff voiced strong opposition to a height they believed overwhelmed the street and could jeopardize heritage buildings on the block by essentially making the conditions right for developers to snap them up and convert them into condo blocks.

The 224 King St. team argued that height was a non-issue, because a whole host of skyscrapers is coming online in the vicinity, including the 66-storey Shangri La and 42-floor Festival Tower on top of the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Mr. Lamb agrees that preserving heritage is important in Toronto, but he said the Theatre Park property has been a parking lot for 40 years.

“There is no history, so let us make history by creating something different.”

Mr. Lamb owns the land, and is working with Niche Developments and HarHay Construction Management to develop it.

Councillor Vaughan sided with staff who opposed the project in March. While praising aspects of the design, he supported the tweaked proposal that council approved in August.

In the intervening months, Mr. Vaughan said the city has secured a heritage designation across the block, and has initiated a Heritage Conservation District study “to protect the rest of the area.”

“This may be the last tall building on this block,” said Mr. Vaughan, who represents Ward 20 (Trinity Spadina). He wants to move away from site-by-site development, and toward block-by-block development, so that neighbourhoods retain a certain scale, and residents can count on keeping the view they purchased.