An enormous condo tower could replace a Toronto apartment building

A huge condo tower proposed to replace a much smaller rental tower at 88 Isabella Street in Toronto is just another sign of the times. In an application tabled with city planners in April, the rental apartment building located just east of Church Street is proposed to be levelled to make way for a 62-storey condominium tower.

Capital Developments is asking the city to approve plans to construct a Diamond Schmitt Architects-designed building that would redefine its mid-block site with a towering presence, replacing an existing 14-storey rental tower constructed in 1965 at a time when the city was undergoing a similarly transformative residential boom.

The tower would rise from a six-storey podium designed to match the existing character of Isabella Street, though the development represents a significant height increase over what exists on the block today.

The existing apartment building at 88 Isabella. Image via Google Maps.

With a height of 197.35 metres, it would rank as the 27th-tallest building in Toronto if completed today, though with an enormously long list of tall towers planned and under construction in the city, and a long approval process in the cards, it's unlikely the building will even make the top 40 upon realization.

Facing northwest to the proposed condo tower at 88 Isabella. Rendering by Diamond Schmitt Architects.

88 Isabella would meet the street with a residential lobby and a 2,107 square-foot daycare space. Above, all 82 of the rental units housed in the existing building would be replaced with new units housed across five levels at the base of the building.

Facing north to the podium at 88 Isabella. Rendering by Diamond Schmitt Architects.

The upper 54 storeys are to contain 751 market-rate condominium suites, combining for a total of 833 residential units.

It will be a huge boost in residential density for the relatively quiet two-lane street (and the wider housing-starved city), but the proposal also plans to give back to existing area residents by dedicating almost 2,230 square feet of space, or 10 per cent of the site's total footprint, as parkland for the city.