{"id":712965,"date":"2026-06-03T20:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/712965\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:08:16","slug":"heights-increased-at-two-tower-front-and-parliament-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/712965\/","title":{"rendered":"Heights Increased at Two-Tower, Front and Parliament Proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEVELOPMENT<\/a>\u00a0PLANNING<\/a>
June 03, 2026 by Anthony Teles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0682\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heights Increased at Two-Tower, Front and Parliament Proposal<\/p>\n

An increase in scale is being proposed at\u00a0281 Front Street East<\/a> on the southeast corner with Parliament Street, where revised plans have been submitted for a pair of mixed-use towers. Designed by\u00a0Diamond Schmitt Architects<\/a> for\u00a0BRL Realty<\/a>, the latest proposal in Toronto’s Corktown neighbourhood would rise 50 and 54 storeys, replacing a previously circulated concept for 44- and 46-storey towers. The site is located steps from the under construction Distillery District station<\/a> on the Ontario Line 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Looking southwest to 281 Front Street East, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty<\/p>\n

The site has remained undeveloped since the demolition of a former City-owned building in 2017 that housed Toronto Public Library administrative functions. Located at the meeting point of several downtown districts, the property sits between Corktown to the north, the St Lawrence neighbourhood to the west, the Distillery District to the south, and the Canary District to the east. The surrounding area contains a mix of residential, office, institutional, commercial, entertainment, and cultural uses, where significant residential intensification is occurring.<\/p>\n

Looking southeast to the current site, image retrieved from Google Maps<\/p>\n

The lands have been the subject of two redevelopment concepts over recent years. Previous plans from\u00a02020<\/a> were advanced for a 38.5m-tall data centre expansion associated with the neighbouring Equinix facility to the south.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking east to the initially planned data centre building, image via submission to City of Toronto<\/p>\n

In\u00a02025<\/a>, site owner BRL Realty changed strategies and brought forward a pre-application proposal for a pair of residential towers rising 44 and 46 storeys, or 145.5m and 152m respectively, replacing the data centre concept with a transit-oriented, predominantly residential mixed-use development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A high-angle view looking west to the previous plan, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty<\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0Colliers Project Leaders<\/a> has submitted Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer. The revised proposal would redevelop the site with a mixed-use building composed of a shared four-storey podium and two north-south-oriented residential towers. The east tower would rise 50 storeys (163.5m) along Front Street, while the west one would stand 54 storeys (175.5m) at Front and Parliament.<\/p>\n

Looking southeast to the podiums, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty<\/p>\n

The proposal boasts 80,025m\u00b2 of Gross Floor Area (GFA), including 79,360m\u00b2 of residential space and 665m\u00b2 of retail uses at grade, yielding a Floor Space Index of 20.7 times coverage of the 3,868m\u00b2 lot. This marks a substantial increase from the previous proposal\u2019s 64,975m\u00b2 of GFA and FSI of 16.83 times coverage. The count has also grown from 898 to 1,016 residential units, consisting of 196 one-bedrooms, 708 two-bedrooms, and 112 three-bedrooms. Four elevators in the shorter tower with 488 units and five elevators in the taller tower with 528 units yields ratio of roughly one elevator per 122 units in the shorter tower and one per 106 in the taller one; high speed motors would be necessary for adequate response times, with faster motors required in the shorter tower to provide comparable service.<\/p>\n

Site plan, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty<\/p>\n

The towers would stand 25m apart and feature floor-plates of approximately 820m\u00b2. Indoor and outdoor amenity space would total 3,706m\u00b2, including 2,032m\u00b2 indoors and 1,674m\u00b2 outdoors. Below grade, a four-level garage would accommodate 280 parking spaces, including 268 resident and 12 visitor spaces, an increase from the previously proposed 259 spaces. Bicycle parking would rise from 990 to 1,119 spaces, comprising 915 long-term and 204 short-term spaces. The site plan retains a central POPS (Privately Owned Publicly-accessible Space) fronting Front Street between the two towers, although its size has been reduced from 526m\u00b2 to 498m\u00b2.<\/p>\n

Ground floor plan, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for BRL Realty<\/p>\n

The site is within the Corktown Protected Major Transit Station Area and is approximately 150m from the future Distillery District station on the Ontario Line 3. Existing TTC service is available immediately adjacent to the site, while the 504 King streetcar operates approximately 200m to the north. Cycling infrastructure includes protected facilities on Mill Street and The Esplanade located about 150m south of the site, while the Adelaide Street East and Richmond Street East cycle tracks are situated roughly 250m and 370m to the north.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An aerial view of the site and surrounding area, image from submission to City of Toronto<\/p>\n

The proposal joins a growing cluster of high-rise developments close to the future station. To the northwest, the 32-storey\u00a0Bauhaus Condos<\/a> is completing construction, with\u00a0King East Centre<\/a> proposed at 39 storeys. East of the site, plans have been filed for the 31-storey\u00a0Curio by Hilton Distillery District<\/a> hotel, while to the south, the 46-storey\u00a0No. 31 Condos<\/a> is completing construction, and the adjacent\u00a031R Parliament Street<\/a> proposal would add a 49-storey tower. To the west, the Corktown Transit Oriented Community would introduce two towers of 46 and 54 storeys on its\u00a0North Site<\/a>, while the\u00a0South Site<\/a> proposes three towers ranging from 22 to 58 storeys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

UrbanToronto’s research and data service,\u00a0UTPro<\/a>, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe\u2014from proposal through to completion. Other services include\u00a0Instant Reports<\/a>, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter,\u00a0New Development Insider<\/a>, that tracks projects from initial application.\u200b<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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