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Elysium Investments and Oikoi Living have submitted plans for a 69-storey rental tower at 164 through 168 Isabella Street, a project that would stand among the tallest proposals in Toronto’s Upper Jarvis area. Designed by Studio JCI, the development would rise above conserved but shifted facades of two 19th-century heritage houses onj the site. Just west of Sherbourne Street, the site is within walking distance of Sherbourne, Wellesley, and Bloor–Yonge subway stations.
The development site brings together 164, 166, and 168 Isabella Street, three properties on the north side of Isabella just west of Sherbourne Street. The parcel is currently occupied by late-19th-century houses: a two-storey detached dwelling at 168, now operating as a 26-room rooming house, and a pair of semi-detached houses at 164–166 containing 38 rental units. The Upper Jarvis neighbourhood around the site mixes heritage houses with newer towers. Further north and east are clusters of mid- and high-rise residential buildings.
164 and 166 Isabella Street are listed on the City’s Heritage Register, and 168 Isabella Street is designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. Both date to the late 19th century and remain in residential use today. The proposal calls for relocating these buildings closer to Isabella Street and integrating them into the new tower’s podium. Conservation work, overseen by GBCA Architects, would reinstate lost features, including a wood verandah at 164–166 and a third-storey balcony at 168.
Weston Consulting has submitted Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developers. Rising to 233.7m, the tower would sit above a podium incorporating the relocated heritage houses at the street edge. The building is planned with a Gross Floor Area of 46,434m², yielding a Floor Space Index of 26.36 times coverage on the 1,760m² assembly, all dedicated to residential use.
The project would deliver 627 market-rate rental units and 33 rental replacement units carried over from the existing housing stock. Plans for amenities entail 2,237m² indoors and 412m² outdoors. Indoor spaces would be distributed across the first four levels and the 69th floor, with outdoor amenities concentrated on the 4th and rooftop levels.
Vertical circulation would be handled by six elevators, averaging one per 110 units, indicating that faster-then-normal speed motors would be required to provide prompt service. No residential vehicular parking is planned, with four surface-level visitor parking spaces. The two-level underground garage would house 298 long-term and 76 short-term bicycle parking spaces, plus 10 publicly accessible spots at grade.
The site is about a five-minute walk (400m) from Sherbourne Station on Bloor-Danforth Line 2, with Wellesley and Bloor-Yonge stations on Yonge Line 1 within a 15-minute walk. TTC bus routes also serve the area, including the 94 Wellesley and 75 Sherbourne. Dedicated bike lanes along Bloor, Sherbourne, and Wellesley link the site to the city’s cycling network.
Multiple high-rise developments signal growth in the Upper Jarvis and St. James Town area. To the south, proposals include 10 Huntley at 45 storeys, Jarvis & Earl Place at 58 storeys, and 5 Huntley at 63 storeys, while towers of 69 storeys are proposed at 135 and 137–141 Isabella Street. Northwest of the site, HuntleySelby is planned with towers of 58 and 63 storeys, alongside a 63-storey proposal at 350 Bloor East. To the north, construction is advancing on Burke Condominiums (53 storeys) and The Bourne (56 storeys), and 576 Sherbourne (also 69 storeys).
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 Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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