Cancelled Toronto condo that threatened local bar is back at over 3 times the height
A scrapped condominium development that would have replaced a beloved bar in Toronto's Church-Wellesley Village area is back in play, and developers now want more than three times the previously approved height.
Graywood Developments had previously gained approval for a 14-storey condo building, which was set to replace the block of 506 through 516 Church Street — home to local bar and nightlife staple Crews & Tangos.
Bar patrons may have thought their battle to save the bar was over when that plan was ultimately cancelled with deposits returned to buyers, though locals (and former purchasers) may be upset to learn that Graywood has proposed a significantly taller building for the same site.
An updated plan retains Diamond Schmitt Architects — a firm under public scrutiny for its involvement in the controversial Therme spa at Ontario Place — who have developed a new design that would rise 48 storeys above the Church and Wellesley intersection.
Measuring over 159 metres from street level to the peak, the new proposal would rise more than three times the height of the 2022 plan that was ultimately cancelled.
The unit count has also increased by more than three times the previous plan, increasing to 574 units over the 173 proposed years earlier.
The base of the tower is proposed to preserve the heritage facades of the current bar, with a heritage plan outlining how the walls will be retained in-situ and then incorporated into the new construction.
While Crews & Tangos would indeed be lost to the redevelopment, the site's importance to Toronto's LGBTQ2S+ community would live on in the new building.
Along with condominiums and new retail, the building calls for a new community facility to be operated as a year-round events hub by Pride Toronto, along with administrative offices for the organization.
The height may seem like a wild jump from what exists today, but the supersized proposal now before planners is, if anything, just a response to other similarly tall buildings planned for the Church-Wellesley Village area that are now working their way through the City's planning and approvals process.
The update to the proposal comes months after another plan was pitched to the City in January, seeking to redevelop a group of properties wrapping around the northeast corner of Church and Wellesley, including a Pizza Pizza location that has served the community for decades.
Diamond Schmitt Architects
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