In October of 2016, the City of Toronto received a proposal to replace a heritage designated building at the northeast corner of Yonge and Carlton streets with a pair of towers rising to 72 storeys. The existing Carlton Tower at 2 Carlton Street is an 18-storey Edward I. Richmond and Allan R. Moody-designed apartment tower completed in 1959, which was converted to office space, with retail at ground level.

Contemporary view of 2 Carlton Street, image courtesy of Northam Realty

Also addressed as 451-471 Yonge Street, the building, while heritage designated, falls within the scope of the Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District. (The Heritage Conservation District by-law for this stretch of Yonge between Carlton and Bloor was enacted on March 10, 2016 but remains under appeal.) The building is considered to be Non-Contributing to the predominantly low-rise character of the HCD.

Looking east to 2 Carlton Street, original proposal, image retrieved from submission to the City of Toronto

Following discussions with Toronto's planning department, property owners Northam Realty Advisors have submitted a revised plan, now with a single but taller tower. Where the original twin towers were to rise 233.2 m / 765 feet high, only 18 m / 59 feet apart (not including balconies), the new single tower eliminates the narrow gap and is proposed to rise 251.1 m / 824 feet high.

Looking east to 2 Carlton Street, new proposal, image retrieved from submission to the City of Toronto

Where the original proposal had 1,100 residential units, no office space, two floors of retail, and 265 parking spaces, the new proposal includes 1,046 residential units, 2 floors of office spaces in the podium, 2 floors or retail at ground level, and 162 parking spaces. Increased setbacks in the new proposal widen the sidewalks all-round, other than on Wood Street; Yonge Street would end up with a 9 metre-wide sidewalk, while a new 250 square metre park space would be added along the Carlton Street frontage by squaring the podium where Carlton angles away from Yonge Street to the south.

Looking northwest to the podium of 2 Carlton Street, new proposal, image retrieved from submission to the City of Toronto

On the east and west sides, the IBI Group's design is marked by 2-storey-high white-framed cubes arranged in a grid on either side of a central glass-clad section of balconies. On the north and south sides, balconies are inset into the centre cubes. The top several floors of the building are a terraced every two levels from the north upwards to the south, culminating in a pair of spires, not included in the building height. (They appear on the planning documents to add approximately 26 m / 85 feet more to the height.)

Looking north to 2 Carlton Street, new proposal, image retrieved from submission to the City of Toronto

To see more images of the original proposal, you can visit our database file for the proposal, linked below. You can get in on the conversation in our associated Forum thread, or you can leave a comment in the space provided on this page.