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2.2K 11-Storey Rental Infill Proposed Beside Grange Park
An infill proposal at 50 Stephanie Street would introduce an 11-storey mid-rise directly south of Grange Park in Downtown Toronto, adding purpose-built rental units to a site already anchored by a 24-storey rental tower. Designed by BDP Quadrangle for Gateway Properties, it would also deliver an expansion of public parkland. The site is located within Protected Major Transit Station Areas around St Patrick and Osgoode stations on University Line 1, the latter of which will soon also be an interchange station with Ontario Line 3.
The 0.62-hectare site occupies the northeast corner of Beverley and Stephanie streets, about 150m north of Queen Street West, in the Kensington–Chinatown and Grange Park areas. The southern portion of the site is home to a 24-storey, 284-unit rental tower set above a two-level garage, while the northern half consists of a sloped lawn that sits atop the parking structure and directly abuts the southern edge of Grange Park. The block is framed by major cultural institutions, including the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and OCAD University, along with a mix of mid-rise apartments, walk-up buildings, low-rise houses, and other institutions.
Bousfields has submitted Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer. The proposal would replace the existing building’s north lawn with an 11-storey rental building rising to 42.51m, set on a three-storey base. A single-storey podium would connect the new structure to the existing 24-storey tower. At grade, new units would face both Beverley Street and the park. The building would add 11,199m² of residential Gross Floor Area to the site, contributing to a combined Floor Space Index of 5.5 times coverage of the lot. The layout creates a two-building arrangement that steps down in height toward Grange Park.
While the City of Toronto generally looks for a 25 metre separation distance between towers, as these two buildings would be rental apartments owned by the same landlord, and the new building would be a mid-rise allowing more sunlight access from above, narrower separation distances can be argued for. The existing building is not a simple rectangular slab as its north and south elevations are staggered, so separation distances would vary between it and the proposed, more simply massed infill building to its north.
According to the Planning Rationale presented to the City, the “portion of the [new] building up to 9 storeys is set back 13.3 metres from 9 balconies of the existing building that project the furthest north from rest of the building. Except for this condition, the Proposal meets the required 15.0-metre minimum separation distance from the existing building. In [the proponent’s] opinion, while the proposed 13.3-metre setback is less than the required 15.0-metre separation distance, this distance is limited to a 2.8m portion of the building compared to the 52.5m length of the existing building.”
A total of 163 rental units are planned, consisting of 103 one-bedrooms, 42 two-bedrooms, and 18 three-bedrooms. Two elevators would establish a ratio of approximately one cab for every 82 units, indicating adequate elevator service when both cabs are operating.
For residents, there would be about 615m² of indoor and 651m² of outdoor amenities. At the north edge of the property, the plan sets aside a 4.9 metre-wide strip of the property, adding up to a 337m² dedication of land to the City that would extend Grange Park southward, adjacent to its dog run. The building would be set back another 2.1m from the new northern property line.
Parking would be accommodated within a reconfigured two-level garage. Portions of the existing P1 and P2 levels beneath the new footprint would be demolished and rebuilt. The combined garages would provide 142 parking spaces in total, including 135 resident spaces, 7 visitor spaces, and 11 accessible spaces for residents of both buildings, with 94 of those spaces retained from the exisiting structure. Three pick-up and drop-off spaces are planned along Stephanie Street. Bicycle facilities would total 226 spaces, comprising 191 long-term and 35 short-term spots.
The site is roughly 600m from Osgoode station and about 800m walking distance from St Patrick station, with the 501 Queen streetcar and other nearby TTC routes along Dundas and Spadina providing additional surface connections. The future Ontario Line 3’s Osgoode station will be an approximate eight-minute walk to the southeast. Cycling infrastructure includes a two-way protected lane on Beverley Street and shared markings on Stephanie Street.
To the north, the AGO’s six-storey Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery expansion is under construction, and proposals include 14 Grange Avenue at 6 storeys and OCAD University’s planned nine-storey addition. South of the site, proposals include the 11-storey building at 160 John Street and the 41-storey tower at 241 Richmond West.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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