A late January submission to Toronto's Planning Department from Bazis seeks rezoning to permit a 54-storey condominium tower at the northeast corner of Queen and Church o the east side of Downtown. The Core Architects-desgned proposal covers an assembly of properties at 60 and 64 Queen Street East plus heritage buildings at 131 through 135 Church Street to the north which would have their facades preserved and incorporated into the tower's base.

West and south elevations, 60 Queen East, image via submission to City of Toronto

At street level, the existing retail and restaurant frontages at 60 Queen Street East and 131-135 Church would house 580 m² of new retail space, preserving the existing scale along Church Street to create a two-storey, 14.8-metre-tall base element, part of a larger six-storey podium. Led by heritage specialists GBCA, these facades would be retained in situ, with interior walls to be dismantled and rebuilt at a depth of approximately 3.0 to 5.0 metres. The street-level experience would also be enhanced with new landscaping by MBTW Group, which includes widened sidewalks.

Site of the proposed development, image via Google Street View

Above, the tower would rise to a height of 187.6 metres to the top of the upper mechanical penthouse level. The tower's design incorporates projecting open and enclosed balconies in a pattern meant to distinguish the tower element from the podium, and visually break up the tower massing. This will be accomplished with a palette of materials including a window wall system with clear sections and opaque spandrel glass, metal panels, and mechanical louvers. Precast concrete and stone finishes are also included in the exterior finish legend for lower levels.

North and east elevations, 60 Queen East, image via submission to City of Toronto

Inside, a total of 364 condo units are proposed on levels 2 through 54. These units would be provided in a mix of 154 one-bedroom units with average sizes of 55 m², 162 two-bedroom units with average sizes of 65 m², and 48 three-bedroom units averaging at 89 m².

Residents would have access to roughly 845 m² of amenity space on the 6th and 7th levels. Approximately 580 m² of indoor amenity area would be divided between 154 m² on the 6th floor and 426 m² on the 7th floor. This 7th-floor indoor amenity would connect with a 265 m² rooftop terrace atop the podium's north end.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.

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ED NOTE: When this story was first published, the building was described as a rental apartment tower. The documents submitted to the City of Toronto which stated that have since been replaced with newer ones stating that the building will be a condominium.