Designed by RAW for the Pemberton Group, the residential tower at the southeast corner of Dundas and Church will feature a retail space at street level. That much has been true since late 2014, when a plan for the Downtown Toronto site at 215-229 Church Street was first submitted, though the design language has changed dramatically since the initial proposal, while the scale of the building has also evolved. Following an aesthetic reinvention of the 2014 plans submitted just a few months ago, another new design has been introduced as part of a recent Site Plan Application (SPA).

Hero shot, 215-229 Church, July 2017 SPA, image via submission to the City of Toronto

An undulating pattern of balconies now characterizes the 52-storey tower, breaking away from the much more rectilinear design tabled in April of this year. While the updated design has more in common with the 2014 submission, which envisioned an array of splayed balconies across the body of the tower, the new SPA presents a more finalized iteration of the project, coming on the heels of an OMB-ratified settlement in early May of this year. (Annotated renderings of all three designs are available via our Database file, linked at the bottom of this page). 

Aerial view, looking southwest, image via July 2017 SPA submission to the City of Toronto

Alongside the new aesthetic, however, the SPA calls for an increase in height. While the 2014 submission—and the proposal initially presented at the OMB appeal—called for a 46-storey, 616-unit tower, the current 52-storey plan features a slightly reduced total of 596 residential suites, with multi-bedroom units prioritized. At grade, 506 m² of retail space is planned, fronting onto both Dundas, Church, and Dalhousie.

The site, image via 2014 rezoning application to the City of Toronto

Located at the north end of a long, narrow urban block, the 1,648 m² site is currently occupied by a fined-grained cluster of retailers (including a small hotel) at the corner of Church and Dundas, as well as a surface parking lot to the south. With retail space dominating the project's prominent Church and Dudnas frontages, vehicle access would be provided via the quieter Dalhousie Street, which would also be fronted by the residential lobby. 

The ground floor plan, image via July 2017 SPA submission to the City of Toronto

We will keep you updated as more information becomes available, and the project continues to take shape. In the meantime, you can learn more by checking out our Database file, linked below. Want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment on this page, or join the ongoing conversation in our associated Forum thread.