Toronto apartment building could be demolished for huge 69-storey condo tower

A condo tower stretching 69 storeys into the sky is proposed to replace a mid-rise apartment building southwest of Sherbourne TTC station, the second such proposal on a block primed for a major transformation in the years to come.

A new development application tabled in late February by Pinedale Properties seeks to bring a tower stretching over 231 metres to what is currently a quiet side street. The site at 137-141 Isabella Street is currently home to a seven-storey rental apartment building and a three-storey home.

Both are proposed to be demolished to make way for a BDP Quadrangle-designed tower containing 762 condos. In accordance with the city's rental housing replacement policies, an additional 61 rental units are proposed to replace units that would be lost to demolition.

The total of 823 units proposed represents a staggering 1349 per cent increase over the 61 units on site.

The breakdown of the units suggests an investor-heavy focus for the development, emphasizing studio and one-bedroom units (159 and 453, respectively) over two-bedroom and three-bedroom layouts (129 and 81 units, respectively) better suited to families.

Units would be served by just six elevators serving the floors above the tower's podium, which would likely translate to gruelling elevator wait times for residents, as has been seen in some newer condo developments.

The proposal is just the latest for what is shaping up to be one of the tallest side streets in the city.

If the headline sounds familiar, that's because a similarly tall tower was proposed right next door at 135 Isabella Street in 2023. This plan would spell the end of the adjacent nine-storey apartment building home to 80 rental units.

Toronto apartment building could be torn down for 69-storey condo tower https://t.co/34nq7PRWcS #Toronto #TorontoRealEstate #RealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 30, 2023

Together, these two plans would replace the block's current most prominent buildings with much taller towers, a sign of the times in a rapidly intensifying pocket of downtown.