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A new rental tower is being proposed in Toronto’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood, where plans have been filed to replace an existing apartment building at 55 Isabella Street with a 75-storey mixed-use development. Designed by Wallman Architects for Cromwell Property Management, the plan is among the tallest proposed buildings in the area, situated within walking distance of both Wellesley and Bloor-Yonge stations.
The site is on the south side of Isabella Street between Yonge and Church streets, within the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood, an area characterized by a mix of residential, commercial, institutional, and open space uses ranging from older apartment buildings to recently completed and proposed high-rise towers. Currently occupied by a 12-storey mid-century rental apartment building containing 83 units, the property includes surface parking and ground-floor office space.
The Firm Developments has submitted a Zoning By-law Amendment application to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer. The proposal calls for a 75-storey mixed-use tower rising from a six-storey podium, reaching a height of 250.5m. The building would contain 55,161m² of Gross Floor Area, including 53,388m² of residential space, 1,064m² of office space, and 92m² of ground-floor retail space on the 2,123m² lot, giving a Floor Space Index of 26 times lot coverage.
The development would deliver 843 purpose-built rental units, replacing the site’s existing 83 rental apartments. The proposed unit mix consists of 34 studios, 631 one-bedroom units, 136 two-bedroom units, and 42 three-bedroom units, with additional suites designed to allow future conversion into larger family-sized layouts.
Residents would be served by 2,529m² of amenity space, split between 1,517m² indoors and 1,012m² outdoors. Eight elevators would serve the building’s 843 units, resulting in an elevator ratio of approximately one elevator for every 105 suites indicating reasonable response times with speedy motors, and when all elevators are operating.
The proposal would provide a 19.6m separation distance to the apartment building at 59 Isabella Street to the east and an 18.06m separation distance to the building at 33 Isabella Street to the west, both of which are less than the 25m minimum called for in the City's Tall Buildings Guidelines. At grade, the project would consolidate the site’s existing three driveways into a single access point along the west side of the property. No vehicular parking spaces are proposed. Instead, transportation facilities would include three pick-up and drop-off spaces, as well as 475 bicycle parking spaces, comprising 380 long-term and 85 short-term spots, with public bicycle parking provided at grade.
Wellesley Station on Yonge Line 1 is located approximately 450m from the site, while the Line 1 and Line 2 interchange at Bloor-Yonge station is roughly 500m away. Surface transit options provide connections across the downtown core and beyond. The site is similarly well connected to Toronto’s cycling network, with nearby cycling infrastructure on Yonge Street, Bloor Street, Sherbourne Street, and Wellesley Street linking the area to destinations throughout Downtown and the broader city.
The proposal joins a growing concentration of tall building proposals reshaping the area. To the east, development applications have been submitted for 88 Isabella Street at 62 storeys, 90 Isabella Street at 69 storeys, and 81-83 Isabella Street at 70 storeys. North of the site, the 47-storey The Charles at Church is currently under construction, while additional proposals include 625 Church Street at 56 storeys and 48 Isabella Street at 69 storeys. Toward Yonge Street, applications include 15 Charles Street East at 66 storeys, 619 Yonge Street at 70 storeys, 646 Yonge Street at 75 storeys, and 645 Yonge Street at 76 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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| Related Companies: | Grounded Engineering Inc., LEA Consulting, WND Associates Ltd |
