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CreateTO has filed updated plans for a two-building rental community that would include affordable rentals on the south side of Queen Street East east of Coxwell Avenue. Designed by SvN, the project would introduce a 6-storey mid-rise facing Queen and an 18-storey tower along Eastern Avenue to Toronto’s Greenwood-Coxwell neighbourhood.
The proposal traces its origins to City Council’s Housing Now Phase 2 program, first adopted in 2020 to advance mixed-income housing on underused City-owned sites. In May, 2025, the initiative was folded into the Toronto Builds Policy Framework, guiding redevelopment of municipal land. Under this framework, the redevelopment of an assembly at 1631 Queen East is positioned to deliver both affordable and market-rate housing.
An initial submission for just 1631 Queen East, where there is a City-run employment centre, sought Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments in 2021, with a second round of materials filed in 2022 proposing a conjoined 6 and 18-storey building extending south to Eastern Avenue. During this period, Toronto Community Housing approved the transfer of the easternmost unbuilt-on portion of its adjacent 6-storey rental apartment property at 1080 Eastern Avenue to the City. In 2024, City Council authorized the acquisition of 1641 Queen Street East, home to a Harvey’s restaurant.
Now, CreateTO has submitted a revised set of Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications for the combined site. The plan arranges the site into two distinct buildings: a 6-storey (25.20m) mid-rise fronting Queen Street East and an 18-storey (64.7m) tower positioned along Eastern Avenue, with a pedestrian mews running between them. Together, the buildings would house 328 rental units, up from 279, with a mix of 31 studios, 142 one-bedrooms, 118 two-bedrooms, and 37 three-bedrooms or larger. Of these, 133 are earmarked as affordable.
The total Gross Floor Area is set at 25,387m², translating to a Floor Space Index of 5.6 coverage of the 4,518m² site. Of this, 24,275m² would be residential space. At grade, the mid-rise would introduce 154m² of retail facing Queen Street East and 958m² of childcare space. By contrast, the earlier proposal included a much larger retail component of 732m² and a slightly greater 978m² childcare facility.
Residents would have access to 813m² of indoor and 540m² of outdoor amenities. Vertical circulation would be provided by two elevators in the mid-rise and three in the tower, working out to a ratio of one elevator per 50 units in the former and 76 units in the latter, indicating prompt service for both buildings. A single level of underground parking is proposed, with 89 spaces split between 69 for residents and 20 for visitors, an increase from 80 total previously. Bicycle storage entails 331 stalls, up from 280, with 34 short-term and 297 long-term spaces.
The design also introduces a range of public realm upgrades. Kishigo Lane, a poorly paved lane running along the property’s eastern edge which was the former easternmost stretch of Eastern Avenue until that street was extended, is planned to be converted into a landscaped pedestrian walkway incorporating Indigenous place-keeping principles.
Surrounding the site is a mix of low-rise housing, mid-rise developments, community facilities, and retail storefronts that line Queen Street. The block is served by the 501 Queen streetcar and the 22 Coxwell bus providing a north–south link to Coxwell station on Danforth Line 2. For cyclists, the proposed mid-block link for pedestrians and cyclists through Kishigo Lane would tie into the broader east–west laneway network.
The proposal joins mid-rise projects in the area. To the west, 17 Rhodes is planned at 4 storeys and 1594 Queen East at 6 storeys, while the recently completed Don Summerville across Coxwell Avenue adds a 10-storey affordable rental building by Toronto Community Housing. North of the site, proposals at 51 and 69 Coxwell Avenue would rise 4 and 6 storeys respectively, and to the east, The Beach House is planned at 11 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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