Last November, Colliers Strategy and Consulting (on behalf of YI Developments Limited) submitted an application for a 57 storey tower at the southeast corner of  Yonge and Isabella Streets (619-637 Yonge; 7-9 Isabella) that would bring 606 residential units to the site.  

The  Yonge Street frontage would be retail space, with the residential entrance  on Isabella Street, and servicing, parking and loading accessed via Gloucester Lane.

The site is within the Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District, which the City of Toronto designated in 2016 under the Ontario Heritage Act.  However, a group of developers, including YI Developments, has appealed The Heritage Conservation District Plan to the Ontario Land Tribunal. The current development proposal calls for the demolition of the existing buildings. 

City staff released a Preliminary Report with recommendations in January 2022. 

In July 2022, the Toronto Preservation Board recommended that City Council designate the existing buildings as heritage properties.  

The report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 625 Yonge Street (including 621, 627, 629, 631, 633, 635, and 637 Yonge Street, and 1, 3, and 5 Isabella Street) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value. 

According to the report, the buildings:

...constitute a representative example of Edwardian Classicist-style commercial main street buildings. Part of Yonge Street's historic commercial streetscape since the early 20th century, the property maintained a long association with the automotive industry, beginning with its original use for Thomas Crow's carriage business. It then housed the Dominion Automobile Company's showroom, the second store location of Canadian Tire, and other automobile companies. From the late 1970s through the late 1990s, the property housed a series of clubs that served the LGBTQ2S+ community, notably including the Domino Club and Komrads."

On August 18,  the City issued a Notice of Intention to designate the buildings  as heritage properties. 

33 and 37 Maitland Street are for sale as a potential development site. Colliers International has compiled an "investment summary" document, which details the rationale for a 38-storey tower. 

33 Maitland is a 3-storey apartment building with 37 units. 37 Maitland is a 2-storey office building that is listed as a heritage property, built in 1853. They are located between the Village Green rental complex and the Cosmopolitan condominiums. 

According to the document, given the height of other buildings in the area, an argument can be made for a 38-storey tower. "The proposed height is based on a hypothetical angular plane between the proposed 15-storey mixed-use building located at 506 Church Street and the recently built 52-storey condominium building at 501 Yonge Street."  (506 Church Street has since been approved at 14 storeys). 

There will be no opportunity for community consultation until a developer purchases the properties and submits a development proposal.