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Situated in the heart of Church-Wellesley Village, Toronto’s primary LGBTQ2S+ hub, Graywood Developments has submitted entirely reworked plans for 506 Church Street, now proposing a 48-storey mixed-use tower. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, this marks a substantial increase in height and density over the previously approved 14-storey plan. Marketed under the name Maison Wellesley, Graywood returned the deposits to those who had purchased suites in that earlier project.
The new proposal would include a dedicated ~6,500 ft² community facility for Pride Toronto, envisioned as a year-round hub for LGBTQ2S+ inclusive programming and events. The design, heritage elements overseen by ERA Architects, would also preserve walls of the historic Crews & Tangos building, a popular pair of bars.
The site spans 506 to 516 Church Street, south of Maitland Street (and not including the O'Grady's pub seen below), occupying a rectangular parcel with an area of approximately 1,707m². Currently, it is home to a mix of low-rise, house-form buildings with commercial uses, including the heritage-designated Crews & Tangos building at 508 and 510 Church Street. These structures feature two to two-and-a-half storeys, with a rear garage and a surface parking lot.
The Church-Wellesley Village is characterized by its low- to mid-rise, pedestrian-oriented main street buildings mixed with surrounding high-density residential developments. Over the years, the Village has experienced substantial growth, with increasing redevelopment activity.
The site’s development history began with an application submitted in 2020 for 15 storeys. City Council approved a revision of this in 2022 as a 14-storey mixed-use building. With the changing market conditions, however, this year Graywood Developments has opted to completely revisit the plans, now seeking 48 storeys, and on their behalf, Bousfields has submitted new Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Toronto.
The new proposal would reach a height of 159.25m, more than three times the previously approved 45.02m. This revision increases the total unit count to 574, a substantial rise from the original 173 units. The new plan also boosts the Gross Floor Area to 36,616m², up from 12,712m² in 2022. Floor-plates are 833m², substantially larger than the 750m² floor-plates that the City wants for its point towers. Predominately residential, this results in a higher density with a Floor Space Index of 21.46 compared to the previous 7.47.
At the base of the tower, the three-storey podium would incorporate the heritage walls to be preserved in-situ. The podium would house 390m² of ground-floor retail and a 611m² space for Pride Toronto’s offices and event programming on the ground and second floors.
Proposed indoor amenities have increased to 974m² from the previous 562m², while outdoor amenities have been boosted to 461m² from 203m². These facilities would be located on the second and third floors. With four residential elevators serving the 574 units, there would be approximately one for every 144 units, indicating much longer-than-preferable wait times for residents.
506 Church’s single basement level is designed to accommodate 634 bicycle parking spaces, with 518 of those allocated for long-term use. Vehicular parking has been scaled back to just four visitor spaces and four Pick-Up and Drop-Off (PUDO) spaces alongside a laneway on the west side of the property. This is down from 32 resident and visitor spaces in the original plan.
Wellesley station, located just 400m away, is about a 5-minute walk from the site, while College station is approximately 550m away, translating to a 7-minute walk. The 94 Wellesley bus route runs east-west to the north, while the 506 Carlton streetcar route runs east-west to the south. Cyclists benefit from dedicated bike lanes on Wellesley Street, as well as lanes on Yonge Street.
The surrounding area is experiencing a wave of redevelopment. To the north, proposals at 68 and 66 Wellesley Street East envision 28- and 31-storey towers, respectively. Northeast, 2 Cawthra Square is proposed at 45 storeys. Eastward, 383 and 410 Sherbourne call for 39 and 42 storeys. South of the site, 412 and 396 Church Street are proposing 33- and 37-storey buildings. Closer to Yonge Street are even taller developments, including the under-construction 41-storey Yonge at Wellesley Station, while 34 and 33 Maitland are planned to rise 56 and 62 storeys. High-rises at 510 and 543 Yonge are planned at 59 and 68 storeys. The largest project nearby is 475 Yonge Street, where two towers are proposed at 75 and 78 storeys.
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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| Related Companies: | Bousfields, Counterpoint Engineering, Diamond Schmitt Architects, EQ Building Performance Inc., HGC Engineering Inc, U31 |
