DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
January 9, 2026 2K
The 12-story office plan for Liberty Village is being converted into a 51-story rental proposal
BGO has submitted new plans to the City of Toronto for 58 Atlantic Avenue in Liberty Village and is seeking building permits for a 51-story mixed-use rental tower with 30 affordable rental units. This replaces a previous 12-story office concept approved in 2022, reflecting changes in the post-pandemic office market. The proposal calls for retaining and adaptively reusing the heritage building at 25 Liberty Street with a modest three-storey superstructure.
Looking west at 58 Atlantic, designed by BDP Quadrangle for BGO
The affected location spans an entire block on the south side of Liberty Street at Atlantic Avenue and Jefferson Avenue and includes the addresses 25 and 35 Liberty Street, 56 and 58 Atlantic Avenue, and 51, 61 and 65 Jefferson Avenue. The properties are currently being developed with a collection of one to three story brick and stucco buildings, underground parking spaces and a Part IV designated heritage structure at 25 Liberty Street. The site is surrounded by a mix of former industrial buildings, mid-rise commercial and residential buildings and an increasing number of high-density mixed-use developments. It is close to the Exhibition GO station, the future Exhibition station on Ontario Line 3 and the planned but unfunded King-Liberty GO station.
Looking southwest at the current location. The image was retrieved from Google Maps
The plan has evolved through several office-focused iterations over the past decade, culminating in a zoning ordinance change approved by the City Council in July 2022. This permit permitted a 12-story office and retail building with on-site and off-site lease replacement obligations. Bousfields has now re-submitted applications to the City of Toronto to amend the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw on behalf of the developer.
Looking south at B+H Architects’ previous design for BGO
The new proposal, designed by BDP Quadrangle, divides the site into two distinct building forms: a tall, mixed-use rental tower on the western portion of the property and a rehabilitated historic building on the eastern edge on Liberty Street. The main building would rise 51 stories to a height of 550 feet (172.96 m) and would be supported by a three- to five-story podium. Adjacent, the heritage structure would be retained on site and built over with a modern three-storey superstructure, increasing the total height to six storeys or 23.84m. Led by heritage conservation specialist firm ERA Architects, it would allow the building to appear as a free-standing volume rather than being minimized by a larger form.
Looking southwest at 58 Atlantic, designed by BDP Quadrangle for BGO
The new design would include 514 purpose-built rental units, an increase from the previous 42 residential and work rental units. The unit mix includes five studios, 241 one-bedroom units, 209 two-bedroom units and 59 three-bedroom units or larger, with 20 rental replacement units and 30 affordable units. Vertical circulation would be handled by four elevators serving the main 484-unit tower, a ratio of one elevator for every 121 units and requiring high-speed motors for adequate response times. Another elevator would serve the listed building with 30 residential units.
Site plan designed by BDP Quadrangle for BGO
1,205 m² of indoor facilities are planned, supplemented by 851 m² of outdoor facilities. The total gross floor area is proposed at 47,336 m² (out of 26,444 m²) and includes approximately 45,471 m² of residential area, 624 m² of retail area and approximately 1,241 m² of communal area, resulting in an area index of 14.54 times coverage of the 3,255 m² plot, up from 7.9 times coverage. On the ground floor, the proposal includes a publicly accessible pedestrian zone separating the tower from the preserved historic building and leading to a new POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-Accessible Space) of 230 m² at the southeast corner of the site, opposite the proposed public park at 34 Hanna Avenue.
Ground floor floor plan designed by BDP Quadrangle for BGO
Below grade, the development would include four levels of underground parking with space for 162 vehicles, including 155 residential spaces, five visitor spaces and two retail spaces. 512 bicycle parking spaces are planned, including 417 long-term and 95 short-term residential spaces.
The Exhibition GO station on the Lakeshore West line is about 210 m south, about a three-minute walk. Ground transportation options include routes along Ossington Avenue and Dufferin Street and the King streetcar. Looking forward, the site would be close to the future Ontario Line 3 Exhibition station, planned approximately 210m to the south, while the proposed King Liberty GO station, once funded and delivered, would further strengthen regional connectivity to the north. Cycling conditions include bike lanes along Strachan Avenue connecting to the Lake Shore Boulevard West multi-use trails and additional bike connections at Exhibition Place.
An aerial view of the site and surrounding area, image from submission to the City of Toronto
The proposal would sit in an increasingly crowded development context. To the west, the castle is planned to have 11 floors, while 147 Liberty Street is planned to have 55 floors. To the northeast, 85 Hanna Avenue is planned at 10 stories, next to Liberty Yard, which would create three towers of 32 to 36 stories, and 80 Lynn Williams at 44 stories. Plans for the south include 30 seven-story Hanna self-storage facilities and the Exhibition Transit-Oriented Community, with the Jefferson location planned for 44 stories and the Atlantic location planned for 38 and 54 stories.
UrbanToronto will continue to monitor the progress of this development, but in the meantime you can learn more in our database file linked below. If you’d like, you can join the discussion in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the designated area on this page.
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