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Another Toronto heritage building is subject to a rezoning proposal that has been submitted to the City with the goal of allowing the adaptive reuse of the designated heritage building located at 18 Elm Street. Site owner Westerkirk Capital has retained BDP Quadrangle to design a tower that could emerge above the existing 4-storey building and climb 39 storeys, reaching a height of 134m, and offering a total of 258 rental residential units.
Widely recognized as one of Toronto’s most beloved and exemplary collections of built heritage, Elm Street tells a story of urbanism that crosses through centuries… but with a stream of proposals coming forward at a consistent rate, it would appear the development community sees that story as one that is still being written. Time will tell how this proposal actually plays out, but at this moment, the future of the iconic street is trending towards an acutely urban mixed-use area with an eclectic and multi-generational architectural character.
One of the underlying forces driving this surge in development is Elm Street’s position just north of Yonge Dundas Square, and between Bay and Yonge streets, one of the City’s most densely populated areas. A combination of residential, commercial, and institutional uses are all accommodated in an array of high-rises that also enjoys the City’s best service from higher order transit. Existing within the quickly transforming area, the historic low-rise buildings of Elm Street have a tough case to make when it comes to arguing that their sites are not under-utilized.
This is exactly the case for 18 Elm. The 4-storey building, constructed in 1890 in a Romanesque Revival style reminiscent of Old City Hall, is currently occupied by the Elmwood Spa and Bangkok Garden restaurant, but with a total site area of 958m², the owners argue that the site has more to give. With two subway stations located within a 500m radius, and a notable amount of access to a safe and reliable cycling infrastructure, the argument continues that the site is positioned for intensification based on the City’s guidelines, and the case is only made stronger considering the high-rise character of the surrounding area.
Design-wise, only rudimentary renderings exist to date, presenting an image of the lower portion of the proposal with minimal reference to final colour or texture. As pictured, the tower extends from a recessed podium that uses a number of bracket-like supports on the south and west faces of the podium to distribute the weight of the tower evenly into the structure below. This is meant to keep the heritage walls and street-facing rooflines prominent within the building's public realm.
The tower itself is a rectangular mass that features a distinct exterior design that wraps around the entirety of the four elevations. What would be a simple (albeit classic) rectangular based pattern of window wall segments covering three floors each has been given a twist, or rather a curve; instead of each vertical segment of window meeting the one below at a straight edge, the bottom is rounded off, creating a pattern that appears to overlap almost like scales, however the effect is only a visual one.
Referring to the elevation drawings to get a better understanding of the complete massing, we can see that the brackets are not required and do not appear on the podium’s north or east faces; on the eastern elevation, the tower emerges directly from the podium with no recess, and on the north elevation, the tower actually steps back from the podium, rather than extending out over it.
Of note, the tower floor-plate is proposed at 571m², smaller than the typical Toronto point tower plate of 750m². The proposed floor-plate maximizes between the property lines what the owners feel is developable area, separated by approximately 20m from each of the proposals to the north and east. Toronto's normal separation distance guideline for tall buildings is 25m, meant to ensure enough light for people in the buildings and to reach the streets below, and also for offering some degree of privacy for the residents. Toronto is allowing the Chelsea Green proposal at 33 Gerrard West to the north to come within 10 metres of its property line, so that is mirrored in the ask at this site. To the east, the 8 Elm development will be 12.66m from the centreline of the Arts and Letters Club, another heritage building between the 18 Elm site and the 8 Elm site, which will not be redeveloped. In this case, 18 Elm is proposed to rise 7.86m from the same centreline, giving a total separation distance of 20.52m.
Inside, the proposal outlines a mix of layouts ranging from studios to three-bedroom suites, with 59% of the 258 total unit count slated as one-bedrooms. In the existing building, an area on the first floor and lower first floor would be repurposed to make a 395m² commercial unit intended for a restaurant. The remaining three floors of the existing building would house indoor amenity space, with terraces providing outdoor amenity areas at each level. In the basement, 291 bicycle parking spaces would be available, however, no vehicle parking spaces are proposed.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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