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Carlyle Communities has submitted a settlement offer to the City of Toronto for 33 Maitland Street, a short walk from Wellesley station. The revised plan, designed by BDP Quadrangle, increases the height of the tower by 13 storeys to 62 storeys while retaining more heritage elements onsite, and including an affordable housing component.
Spanning 1,445m² in area, the site is on the south side of Maitland Street east of Yonge Street. It is occupied by a 3-storey apartment building at 33 Maitland and a 2-storey office building at 37 Maitland, recognized for their heritage value, particularly the Georgian-style architecture of the office building dating back to the 1850s.
The original proposal from October, 2022 called for 49 storeys. City Council failed to make a decision within the statutory timeframe, which led to an appeal in April, 2023 to the Ontario Land Tribunal. The site was also designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in November, 2023, further complicating the proposal.
Carlyle Communities filed a motion to consolidate its appeals related to the Zoning By-law and Official Plan Amendments with the appeal of the heritage designation. Ongoing settlement discussions with City staff resulted in modifications to address heritage concerns, leading Carlyle to withdraw its appeal of the Heritage Designation By-law and the motion to consolidate and submit this settlement offer in August, 2024.
The revised proposal addresses City staff’s heritage concerns by retaining and rebuilding key elements of the 33 and 37 Maitland Street buildings. The updated plan conserves the east elevation of 33 Maitland in-situ and includes the reconstruction of the north and partial west elevations. At 37 Maitland, the main building would be retained, while the east elevation of the rear additions would be rebuilt. This contrasts with the original proposal, which called for the complete demolition of 33 Maitland. Revised heritage permit applications have been submitted to implement these changes.
The revised plans increase the tower height from 49 to 62 storeys, and from 166.65m to 206.5m. The number of residential units proposed has also risen from 439 to 520. Additionally, the tower’s floor-plate would be reduced from 703m² to 678m².
The new plan introduces affordable housing as per Section 37 of the Planning Act, with Carlyle Communities committing to an in-kind contribution equivalent to 4% of the site’s value. This will be determined in collaboration with the City’s Chief Planner.
The design’s Gross Floor Area has been increased from 32,000m² to 38,055m², resulting in a Floor Space Index of 26.34. Indoor amenities would span 1,627m², with outdoor amenities totalling 453m². The updated design includes five elevators, for a ratio of one for every 104 units. This is a major improvement over the previous plan, which had three elevators, or approximately one for every 146 units.
While the previous plan included 27 parking spaces for residents and visitors, the updated proposal eliminates these spots, reflecting the site’s access to public transit. One level of underground garage would house bicycle parking, with 520 long-term and 62 short-term spaces, as well as ten publicly accessible spaces, an increase from the previous total of 439.
33 Maitland is within a 5-minute walk of Wellesley station and a 6-minute walk from College station, both on Yonge Line 1. Bloor-Danforth Line 2 is a one-station ride to the north.
There are other projects and proposals in the area. To the north, the 41-storey Yonge at Wellesley Station is under construction, and 34 Maitland is proposed at 56 storeys. To the west, The G2 is proposed at 46 storeys, the 55-storey 8 Wellesley is also under construction, and 510 and 543 Yonge Street are proposed at 59 and 68 storeys, respectively. Further south, 2 Carlton is proposed at 73 storeys, and 475 Yonge Street calls for two towers of 75 and 78 storeys.
The settlement offer notes that a decision on the settlement offer from the City Council is expected at their next meeting scheduled for October 9, 2024.
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: | BDP Quadrangle, Counterpoint Engineering, LEA Consulting, MHBC Planning, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering, Unison Group |
