A 1958-built, 8-storey office building on the southwest corner of Queen and University in Downtown Toronto could soon sprout a new high-rise condominium tower. A late April application from Northam Realty Advisors seeks rezoning to permit a 54-storey condo tower at 250 University Avenue, with heritage specialists GBCA Architects leading related to the existing former Bank of Canada building, and IBI Group designing the new tower above.

250 University, image via submission to City of Toronto

The proposal calls for 669 m² of street-fronting retail space and 12,463 m² of office space within the retained building. Above, the proposed tower would reach a height of 176 metres, and contain 495 condominium units across 36,337 m² of space, proposed in a mix of 80 one-bedroom units with average sizes of 55 m², 328 two-bedroom units with average sizes of 66 m², and 87 three-bedroom units with average sizes of 84 m².

East and west elevations, 250 University, image via submission to City of Toronto

Renderings and elevation diagrams for the new tower show a blue glass exterior envelope punctuated by a grid of staggered frames along the east and west elevations, and vertical piers along the north and south elevations. The limestone-hued tone of these accents is designed to relate the new levels with the existing structure's stone exterior below.

North and south elevations, 250 University, image via submission to City of Toronto

The existing building's basement levels would have to be modified as part of the redevelopment. Currently occupying the bulk of the two underground floors, a bank vault and mechanical rooms would be repurposed to house 562 bicycle parking spaces, while two new underground levels would be excavated below to support 48 residential parking spaces in a fully automated parking system with two driverless parking elevators.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.