Steps taken to preserve heritage at Yonge and Isabella

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. 

Canadian Tire store at Yonge and Isabella, c. 1931

The developer is expected to revise the application to take into account the heritage attributes of the current buildings fronting Yonge Street. 

Notice of a community consultation meeting held by the City will be sent to property owners within 120 metres of the property. You can be notified of the consultation by clicking the "Community Consultation" tab on the Development Application Information page for the proposal.  

[Update: the developer appealed this application to the Ontario Land Tribunal in May 2022]

For more information:
Development Application Information Centre:
https://tinyurl.com/57rvbt6s

Urban Toronto:
https://tinyurl.com/yckr9fd2