Future unclear for planned 69-storey Toronto skyscraper after project put up for sale

Plans to tear down a rental apartment building on a quiet downtown Toronto street and replace it with a 69-storey skyscraper have been put on ice, becoming the second major project in the city to be put up for sale or placed on hold in recent weeks.

Developer KingSett Capital has placed its land at 135 Isabella Street up for sale a little over a year after filing a development application with City planners.

KingSett's plan sought to demolish the existing nine-storey building and replace it with a tower that would have risen over 236 metres that would have stood as Toronto's 10th tallest if completed today.

However, the proposal site was ultimately put up for sale by the developer for an undisclosed price in September. Any potential buyer would also inherit KingSett's previous investment in planning the forthcoming tower — which has had its zoning approved by the City — and its design from architects BDP Quadrangle.

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

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 30, 2023

A LinkedIn post by RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group explains that the company is offering a 100 per cent interest in the "0.58-acre transit-oriented development site located in a prime Downtown Toronto neighbourhood, and zoning approved for a 69-storey residential tower comprising over 560,000 sf of Gross Floor Area."

While the future of the site is currently unclear, RBC Capital Markets Realty stresses the property is a "near shovel-ready development site," which means this tower could still come to fruition in the near future if a buyer steps forward.

But it's what this sale represents in the bigger picture that likely has some onlookers biting their nails.

Dozens of GTA condos put on hold amid tanking market https://t.co/ZGUMf65jp7

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 24, 2024

The 135 Isabella project is just the latest in a series of planned developments to be placed for sale, on hold or cancelled this year, and follows on the heels of another significant proposal that was put up for sale just days earlier.

According to Storeys, the push to sell the 135 Isabella site follows a similar move by developer ONE Properties to offload its property at 736 Bathurst St., where a 49-storey tower is currently planned.