In 2007, the architectsAlliance-designed Spire Condos brought a conspicuous new high-rise presence to the Downtown Toronto corner of Church and Adelaide. Now, almost a decade later, the area's intensification could be continuing with a new Cityzen Development Group tower proposed at 89 Church Street, just north of the 45-storey Spire. Also designed by architectsAlliance, the 49-storey tower would add 468 homes to the area, though this time with rental apartments. 

A rendering of the project, looking up, image retrieved via submission to the City of Toronto

Replacing a site occupied by a surface-level parking lot and the Fisherman's Wharf seafood restaurant, the tower would add significant density to the immediate area where Spire still remains the only project of comparable scale. Rising from a 5-7 storey podium, the new tower's urban surroundings are reflected in the proposal, with only 97 parking spaces—spread out across six underground levels—planned.

A view of the site within its urban context, image retrieved via submission to the City of Toronto

Meanwhile, the 468 units are proposed as a mix of 310 one-bedroom suites (66%), 112 two-bedroom suites (24%), and 46 three-bedroom suites (10%). While most residential units would housed in the slender point tower—which has a slender floorplate of 589 m² from the 8th to the 49th storey—the base of the building includes the remainder of the residential suites, with retail space planned to front into Church Street. 

Looking northeast from the corner of Church and Lombard, image retrieved via submission to the City of Toronto

A decade into Toronto's development boom, the proposal remains among the relatively small—albeit growing—number of purpose-built rental towers proposed across the city. As such, the project could be a particularly notable development, representing one of the Downtown's few new-build rental towers.

A context view of the tower in relation to the Financial District skyline, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

While the renderings seen so far may indicate an aesthetic direction for the project, we can expect the design to evolve as the planning process commences. As such, the the design so far should be considered preliminary, with the architectural expression subject to change. 

Looking southeast, the podium meets the scale of the neighbouring building, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

Nonetheless, the submitted design is at minimum indicative of the proposal's massing strategy. At its north and east frontages—which face blank walls of neighbouring buildings—the podium would be built directly to the property line, while 3.6 and 4.27 metres of sidewalk width are proposed along Church and Lombard Streets respectively. Loading and vehicular access is planned from Lombard, while MBTW's landscape plan includes a continuous soil trench that would add two new street trees along the southern frontage, where two new benches are also planned. 

The Lombard Street frontage, image retrieved via submission to the City of Toronto

According to the planning rationale, the "tower is set back 4.5 m from the Church Street and Lombard Street property lines. The north face of the tower is stepped back 2 m from the north property line and there are no balconies on this side of the building." Meanwhile, "[a] notch in the building’s east face allows for light to the limited windows along the Lombard Street frontage."

The site as it appears now, image retrieved via Google Maps

We will keep you updated as the proposal makes its way though the planning process, and the project evolves. In the meantime, make sure to check out our dataBase file for more information and additional renderings. Want to share your thoughts on the proposal? Feel free to leave a comment in the space below this page, or join in the ongoing conversation on our associated Forum thread.