Developer wants to tear down group of Toronto homes for 63-storey condo tower

A towering new addition could soon shake up the landscape of a quiet residential intersection in Toronto's Jarvis and Wellesley neighbourhood.

The new proposal tabled in April intends to redevelop the quiet corner of Huntley and Earl streets with a megalithic tower, sure to be a conversation starter for locals in this affluent pocket of single-family homes tucked amid a rapidly changing cityscape.

The site in question includes a trio of three-storey buildings with addresses at 2-8 Earl Street and 5 Huntley Street, with a combined lot area of just under 1,350 square metres. The houses currently on-site lack heritage protection and have been deemed ripe for redevelopment.

Two of the buildings that exist on site today. Image via City of Toronto

Developer Earl Huntley Limited Partnership is seeking to have the City redesignate the site from its current "neighbourhoods" plan to "apartment neighbourhoods" and replace the group of existing homes on site with a 63-storey condo tower.

The proposed tower — featuring a relatively minimal design from Turner Fleischer Architects — would rise to a height of 209.05 metres if approved as currently proposed.

While this height isn't going to break any records or even crack the top ten for the tallest buildings in Toronto, it is an absolutely gargantuan increase from what exists at this location today.

Height sought for this location may seem extreme when looking at the quiet tree-shaded intersection of today, but one only needs to look at active development proposals on surrounding blocks to get a sense of the change expected for the area in the years to come.

Upcoming developments for this area include a pair of 69-storey towers proposed immediately northeast of the site and a 45-storey tower planned across the street to the west.

The Earl-Huntley site would add another 730 condominium units to this fast-changing area, and it aims to do so without contributing to already brutal traffic in the core of the city.

It offers just two surface parking spaces and no underground parking component. Instead, a single basement level will house 660 long-term bike lockers serving residents' commuting needs, along with the nearby Sherbourne subway station.