Toronto tower proposal is 9 times taller than previous plan for same site

The Toronto development game has changed considerably after almost two solid decades of intensification, a shift in planning policies and developer ambitions perfectly exemplified in a recent application filed with City planning staff.

A plan tabled to replace a 2.5-storey office building at 170 Merton Street in midtown with a rental tower stands in stark contrast to a proposal tabled for the very same site approximately eight years earlier.

The proposal before planning staff would see much of the current structure, along with the entirety of an adjacent townhome complex, razed to make way for a 45-storey development housing over 500 rental units.

Redevelopment of the site has been discussed for a decade and a half now, starting with the purchase of 170 Merton by developer Cresford in 2010. Cresford would move into the building a couple of years later, sitting on the property while development plans for the site percolated in the background

Redevelopment of the site was finally proposed in 2017 with plans for an 11-unit townhouse block rising five storeys. 

However, Cresford's demise in 2020 meant these plans were never realized, and the site was eventually sold off along with the neighbouring townhomes at 180 Merton Street, creating an expanded site capable of supporting a project with an expanded scope.

New owner Graywood Developments filed plans with the City in March for a tower that would rise 45 storeys, which is nine times the previous proposal for the site and 18 times the current 2.5-storey building when measured in floor count.

Designed by Turner Fleischer Architects, the tower is proposed to reach a height of just over 146 metres, and would feature an exterior treatment boasting bronze-coloured cladding that promises to bring a shot of colour to the neighbourhood skyline.

The existing building on site — known for its unique brickwork and designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act — would be partially retained and is shown in renderings as somewhat clumsily integrated into the base of the tower.

Designed by architect Leslie Rebanks and opened in 1969, the current structure, originally known as the Visiting Homemakers Association building, features an exterior clad in grey concrete brick masonry, which has been repainted white in the decades since it was built.

The tower built around this integrated heritage building would introduce 517 rental units to the block if approved, the vast majority (299, or 57.8 per cent) being investor-friendly one-bedroom units.

In addition to plenty of new neighbours, locals would benefit from a planned 279 square metres of retail space within the base of the tower, though no businesses have been specified at this early stage of the planning process.

While the neighbourhood population would see a localized boom, there would be a negligible impact on traffic in the area, with just 34 parking spaces proposed for the entire development. 

Most residents would be expected to make use of the nearby Davisville Station on the TTC's Line 1, along with a 583-space bicycle parking component housed on-site.