November was a busy month for new proposals in Toronto, including a plan submitted late in the month by Fitzrovia Capital seeking rezoning to permit a high-rise condominium development at 10 Wellesley West. Located at the northwest corner of Yonge and Wellesley, the proposal calls for a 64-storey condominium tower reaching a height of 205.4 metres (674 feet), designed by Chicago-based bKL Architecture, with locally-based Rafael + Bigauskas Architects as Architects of Record.
'The development site is included in the Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District (HYHCD), and houses heritage-listed properties on both Yonge Street and Wellesley Street West. GBCA Architects will be handling the preservation and integration of these heritage properties at 586 Yonge Street—currently occupied by Holy Chuck restaurant—and portions of the heritage property at 10-16 Wellesley Street West.
While part of the site, the building at 586 Yonge would continue to operate as a retail building, not to be redeveloped. A vacant 2-storey wood-framed building at 5 St Nicholas and a 3-storey brick commercial building at 7 St Nicholas—both identified as "contributing" in the HYHCD—would be removed to make way for the new tower.
At street level, the heritage property at 10-16 Wellesley would be incorporated, housing 153 m² of street-fronting retail along the site's south frontage. The restoration of this rowhouse block would re-establish its original 1876 aesthetic, undoing years of piecemeal exterior renovations that have resulted in the property being identified as ‘’over-clad’’ in the HYHCD. Above, the tower would include a total of 466 condominium units, consisting of 283 one-bedroom units, 138 two-bedroom units, and 45 three-bedroom units.
Residents would have access to indoor amenity spaces on levels 4 and 40, as well as outdoor terraces on levels 4, 40, 54, 56, 57 and 64. In total, the proposal calls for a combined total of 1,864 m² of indoor and outdoor amenity spaces. Below grade, the development would be served by a three level underground garage containing 47 residential parking spaces. A 470-space bicycle parking area is provided on the second level mezzanine, while a group of existing bicycle racks installed along Wellesley Street will be retained.
We will return as additional information becomes available. In the meantime, project facts and images can be found in our 10 Wellesley West database file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.