An application has been submitted to the City of Toronto to demolish a midtown church in order to build a 44-storey residential tower, bringing increased density to an area a city councillor says is not equipped to handle it.
The site, located at 44 Broadway Ave., is currently home to St. Monica’s Roman Catholic Church, which was built in 1959.
According to Jim Milway, chancellor of temporal affairs with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, the church is experiencing structural issues that would cost a lot of money to fix, so parishioners asked the archdiocese to explore options to develop the site.
After 12 developers expressed interest, the site was sold to Collecdev, contingent on the development’s approval by the city. According to Milway, the final sale price is tied to the eventual height of the building.
“Over a certain minimum, every floor they get there will be money coming to us, so we have an interest in the project becoming as successful as possible,” said Milway.
The current application submitted to the city is for a 44-storey tower with 398 units.
As part of the deal, a new church will be constructed at the front of the site, and the archdiocese will be purchasing units in the building in order to provide homes to retired priests.
Unlike some other church to condo developments in Toronto, no aspect of the current church will be preserved or incorporated into the final design.
“It’s a nice church, but it’s not like one of these beautiful old 19th-century churches in downtown Toronto. It’s a church from 1959, does a great job, but it’s not something that would be of heritage value,” said Milway.
Councillor Jaye Robinson said she was surprised to see the proposed height of the building, especially since council had just approved the construction of an 11-storey building on a neighbouring site.
“In Yonge and Eglinton, the provincial growth targets have been exceeded repeatedly. It’s one of the densest neighbourhoods now in Canada and certainly Toronto,” said Robinson. “And bottom line is that an application this aggressive, with 44 storeys, is off the charts.”
She expressed concern about the lack of green space in the proposal and the building’s impact on an already congested Eglinton TTC station.
“The schools and daycares are not at capacity, they’re overcapacity. There’s a lack of libraries and community space, green space. Anything you can think of, from an infrastructure standpoint, there’s a lack of it at Yonge and Eglinton,” said Robinson, who said she has already scheduled a meeting with residents to discuss fighting the project.
