4.9K 
A revised proposal has been submitted for the redevelopment of 277 Wellington Street West in Toronto’s Entertainment District, where a Minor Variance application seeks to modify the zoning permissions secured earlier through an Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) settlement. Designed by Arcadis for Reserve Properties and Westdale Properties, the updated plan would increase the tower from 60 to 65 storeys, while removing replacement office space within the podium in favour of more residential units. The site is within the St Andrew Protected Major Transit Station Area.
The site occupies the southeast corner of Wellington Street West and Blue Jays Way. The property is currently developed with a nine-storey office building with a four-and-a-half-level underground garage accessed from a rear laneway. The surrounding King-Spadina area has transformed over the past decades from warehouses and surface parking into one of Downtown Toronto’s most rapidly intensifying mixed-use districts.
Applications for Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval were first filed in December, 2020 for a 66-storey tower. The proposal was appealed to the OLT in May, 2022, and a settlement was reached that reduced the building’s count to 60 storeys.
The Tribunal approved the zoning framework in principle in March, 2023 and issued its final order in January, 2026. Now, WND Associates has submitted the Minor Variance application to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developers.
Under the revised plan, the redevelopment would rise 65 storeys or 220m, an increase from the 60-storey, 208m-tall building approved through the earlier OLT settlement. Floors previously designated for office use between levels three and seven would be reconfigured into residential space, increasing the number of podium residential levels from five to seven while maintaining the same podium height. The revised program would raise the total residential count from 654 units to 807 units, adding 153 homes, including 23 affordable rental units secured through a Section 45(9) agreement. The unit mix would consist of 194 studios, 372 one-bedroom units, 161 two-bedroom units, and 80 three-bedroom units. Six residential elevators would equate to approximately one for every 135 units, indicating very high-speed motors would be required for adequate response times when all elevators are in service.
Gross Floor Area increases from 45,000m² to 49,200m², equivalent to a Floor Space Index of 35.5 times coverage of the 1,386m² site. Residential floor space would rise from 38,000m² to 48,720m², while non-residential space would be reduced from 6,270m² of office and commercial uses to just 390m² of ground-floor retail. Retail frontage along Wellington Street West and Blue Jays Way would frame two previously approved POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-accessible Spaces) measuring 42m² and 48m².
Amenity space would total 1,614m² indoors and 416m² outdoors, located on floors 13, 43, and 44. Below grade, the building would include five underground parking levels served by two parking shuttle elevators connecting the garage to ground level. Vehicular parking would increase from 83 to 93 spaces, consisting of 86 residential and seven visitor spots. Bicycle facilities rise from 685 to 807 spaces, including 726 long-term residential spaces and 81 short-term residential spaces, along with 16 publicly accessible short-term spaces at grade.
St Andrew station on University Line 1 is located about 700m to the east, roughly a 10-minute walk. Streetcar service is available nearby along both King Street West and Spadina Avenue. The location is two blocks away from the closest entrance to the PATH pedestrian network.
Development activity continues to intensify around the site. To the northeast, proposals include Bungalow on Mercer at 17 storeys and 305–319 King Street West at 50 storeys, while the first tower at Forma, rising 73 storeys, is currently under construction. To the northwest, plans include 388 King West at 33 storeys and the 45-storey Four Eleven King Condominiums, alongside the under construction 49-storey 400 King West. To the southwest, 400 Front Street West is proposed with a trio of towers ranging from 27 to 60 storeys. Closer to the site, 255 Wellington Street West is proposed at 26 storeys to the east, while 310 Front Street West to the south would introduce towers of 65 and 70 storeys. Further south, Union Park calls for four towers from 50 to 71 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.
* * *
UrbanToronto's research and data service, UTPro, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe—from proposal through to completion. Other services include Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
| Related Companies: | Arcadis, Crozier Consulting Engineers, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Reserve Properties, WND Associates Ltd |
