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Rental towers rising 56 and 60 storeys have been proposed at the northwest corner of Huntley and Isabella streets in Downtown Toronto’s Upper Jarvis neighbourhood. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for Osmington Gerofsky Development Corp and Rogers Real Estate Development Ltd, the site is immediately east of Rogers’ Mount Pleasant headquarters, in an area where most nearby proposals feature single towers. The plans incorporate multiple listed heritage house walls into the podiums.
The site comprises an 11-property assembly at 30 through 40 Huntley Street and 112 through 124 Isabella Street. The lands are divided by an existing L-shaped public laneway that separates the site into north and south parcels. The properties are currently developed with a collection of 2- and 3-storey house-form buildings, many of which have sat vacant for several years.
Several of the buildings are listed on the City of Toronto’s Heritage Register, including the Alfred R. Williams / Francis Despard House, the George Morphy House, and the Samuel R. Wickett House. The site is surrounded by a mix of low-rise heritage residences, postwar tower-in-the-park apartment buildings, and a growing number of recently built and proposed high-rise developments.
Rogers assembled the properties on this block along the north side of Isabella Street and the west side of Huntley Street over more than a decade. Now, a concurrent combined Official Plan, Zoning By-law Amendment, and Site Plan Control application has been submitted to the City of Toronto. On opposite sides of an existing public laneway, a 56-storey (186.5m) south tower would front Isabella Street, while the 60-storey (198.1m) north tower would rise from the Huntley Street frontage.
Across both buildings, the project would deliver 1,362 market-rate rental units, but the application notes that this may change to a combination of rental and condominium units. The layout mix includes 76 studios, 936 one-bedroom units, 220 two-bedroom units, 129 three-bedroom units, and one four-bedroom unit, with knock-out panels allowing for the combining of units where demand dictates. Thirty-three rental replacement units would be included in the north tower. With six elevators in each tower, this equates to ratios of about one elevator per 118 units in the north tower and one per 110 units in the south tower. High-speed motors would be required to provide adequate response times.
Overseen by ERA Architects, the heritage podium strategy along Huntley Street would see the Alfred R. Williams / Francis Despard House and the George Morphy House retained and relocated to form a continuous three-storey street-wall. On the south parcel, portions of the Samuel R. Wickett House at 122–124 Isabella Street would be conserved in place and incorporated into the podium facing Isabella and Huntley Streets.
The development would contain a total residential Gross Floor Area of 87,591m², resulting in a Floor Space Index of 22.87 times coverage of the 3,831m² assembly. Amenities would include 2,255m² of indoor and 1,840m² of outdoor area. Parking would be consolidated beneath the north tower, with a five-level underground garage. Plans include 214 spaces for residents and 15 visitor spaces, alongside four on-street pick-up and drop-off spaces. Bicycle parking would include 614 long-term resident spaces and 137 short-term visitor spaces.
Sherbourne station lies roughly 400m away to the northeast, while the Bloor–Yonge interchange is approximately 700m to the northwest, and Wellesley station is about 900m to the southwest. Surface transit options include nearby TTC bus routes along Wellesley and Sherbourne streets. For cyclists, there are east–west bike lanes along Bloor and Wellesley streets and a north–south cycle track on Sherbourne Street.
Nearby to the northeast are proposals at HuntleySelby reaching 58 and 63 storeys, and the 63-storey 350 Bloor Street East. South of the site, a growing concentration includes 10 Huntley at 45 storeys, Jarvis & Earl Place at 58 storeys, and 5 Huntley at 63 storeys. To the east, Burke Condominiums and The Bourne are under construction at 53 and 56 storeys respectively, joined by multiple 69-storey proposals at 135, 137-141, and 164-168 Isabella Street and at 576 Sherbourne Street, while to the west, proposals include 88, 90, and 81–83 Isabella Streets, ranging from 62 to 70 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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