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Infrastructure Ontario has reworked the concept for the Transit Oriented Community (TOC) in Toronto's Corktown area on the east side of Downtown. The planned two-block site covers both sides of Front Street just west of Parliament Street, where Corktown station on the Ontario Line 3 is currently under construction. Designed by SvN, the updated plan introduces five towers rising as high as 58 storeys, concentrating height along Parliament Street while removing substantial office components from the previous plan and adding significantly to residential space, supported by new retail, institutional space, and a new public park.
The North Site, addressed to 383 King Street East, covers 8,643m² and was most recently occupied by a car dealership, a Staples store, and surface parking. The South Site at 265 through 271 Front Street East covers 12,472m² in area and contained a mix of low-rise commercial buildings, a car wash, and extensive paved areas. At the centre of the King-Parliament Secondary Plan area, the surroundings are characterized by mid-rise and high-rise redevelopments of low-rise buildings. The Distillery District is a few blocks away to the southeast.
Planning traces back to the Province’s launch of the TOC program related to the propsoed Ontario Line 3 subway in 2020, followed by early design work in 2021. Zoning permissions were set the next year through a Minister’s Zoning Order, establishing the framework for the initial plan in 2022. Since then, shifting market conditions, most notably the combined sharp drop in office demand and increasing housing shortage, plus new technical constraints tied to the Corktown station box and Ontario Line tunnel alignment, prompted a redesign. The area’s heritage context has also shaped the process, with the First Parliament Site requiring detailed archaeological work and a dedicated Interpretation and Commemoration Plan.
The newly revised plan reshapes the North Site into a two-tower arrangement rising 46 and 54 storeys, positioned closer to Parliament Street to avoid the Ontario Line station box beneath the west side of the block along Berkeley Street. These replace the earlier configuration of two 46-storey towers paired with mid-rise components, eliminating the office space that previously formed a major part of the program. The new massing would increase residential supply to 1,102 units, up from 840, within a combined 93,180m² of Gross Floor Area (GFA) exclusive of transit elements, with a Floor Space Index of 10.8 times coverage of the lot. Residential uses account for most of the GFA, while retail would be limited to 895m² in the west building and 1,114m² in the east building.
The previous three-level garage with 271 spaces has been replaced by 74 vehicular stalls, supported by 1,250 bicycle spaces. The change aligns with the site’s role as the station headhouse for Corktown station and the emphasis on pedestrian movement through new east–west and north–south mid-block connections.
On the South Site, the updated concept would organize development into a 22-storey west tower and taller east towers of 50 and 58 storeys, replacing the earlier mix of a 10-storey institutional block, a 42,281m², 24-storey office building, and residential towers of 25 and 46 storeys. GFA is now 103,239m², and the resulting FSI would be 8.23 times lot coverage. An area of 95,418m² is allocated to residential use, wihle non-residential components entail 3,422m² of general commercial space, 1,611m² of retail, and 2,788m² of institutional area.
Parking provisions have been recalibrated from the previous mix of underground and above-grade stalls to four underground levels with 111 vehicular spaces and 1,484 bicycle spaces. This marks a reduction from the earlier 297-space total. Mid-block connections have been carried over from the North Site to create a continuous pedestrian network, while the redesign adds 2,100m² at the south end of the site to extend the existing Parliament Square Park.
Besides the new Corktown station, TTC surface transit service to the site includes the 504 King streetcar and 65 Parliament and 121 Esplanade-River buses.
The proposal is surrounded by other projects and proposals. To the northwest, there is the 32-storey Bauhaus Condos under construction and the 46-storey proposal at 296 King East. West of the TOC, King East Centre is planned at 28 and 39 storeys. A cluster of high-rise projects to the north includes 550 Adelaide East at 29 storeys and 134 Parliament at 46 storeys. To the east, Curio by Hilton Distillery District is planned at 31 storeys. To the south, construction continues on The Goode Condos and No. 31 Condos at 33 and 46 storeys, with a 49-storey tower proposed at 31R Parliament Street.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on these developments, but in the meantime, you can learn more about them from our Database files, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversations in the associated Project Forum threads or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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