A proposed redevelopment at 543 Yonge Street will soon go before Toronto’s Board of Adjustment, where a permit application seeks to separate and transfer air rights from the adjacent building to the north to allow for a cantilever, already approved through a Zoning Bylaw amendment in December 2025. The proposal itself remains a 68-story mixed-use residential tower designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT, with rising trends in the Yonge-Wellesley area of ​​Toronto, south of Wellesley Station.
Looking northeast at 543 Yonge Street, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT
The development area includes 543-549 Yonge Street, mid-block on the east side of Yonge between Wellesley Street East and Maitland Street. The rectangular property is currently home to a four-story commercial office building with ground-floor retail. Immediately north of it is 555 Yonge Street, a 9-story former office building converted into condominiums in the 1990s, on the southeast corner of Yonge and Wellesley. The surrounding area is characterized by a mix of high-rise residential buildings, retail spaces and institutional uses.
Looking east at the current location and 555 Yonge Street (left), image from Google Maps
The tower proposal was first introduced in March 2024 through applications to amend the Official Plan and Zoning Regulations. Over the next two years, site- and area-specific policies tied to Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSAs) for Wellesley and College stations came into effect. The original design called for a tower stepping back from a podium on the street wall, with two west-facing, chamfered sections cantilevered over a podium roof terrace.
Looking northeast at the previous plan designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT
The December approval includes a redesign that allows the tower to cantilever west and now north, with the north wall encroaching on the airspace above 555 Yonge. The developers have now secured ownership of two ground floor retail spaces at 555 Yonge Street and the new filing therefore seeks the technical approval required to separate and transfer the stratified air parcel that will allow 543 Yonge to rise above 555 Yonge. Reciprocal easements recorded at 555 Yonge Street providing structural support and utility access between the commercial and residential portions of this property remain in effect.
The flying rights of 555 Yonge are transferred to 543 Yonge, image via filing with the City of Toronto
The cantilever on the north side would cross 555 Yonge at the 17th floor, extend 10 feet (3.0 m) to the 20th floor, and run straight up for the remainder of the tower. According to the developer, this allows for a more efficient floor plate and supports the delivery of larger unit types. At the top, the tower would rise to 68 floors and 232.5 m, maintaining the same total floor count as the 2024 submission but increasing the height from 228.85 m.
Looking northeast at the Podium, 543 Yonge Street, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT
The project includes 679 condominiums, up from the previously proposed 663; Studios have been reduced to 15 suites, while two-bedroom units now total 167 and those with more than three bedrooms total 73, representing an evolution towards larger formats. Vertical transport would remain at five elevators, changing the ratio slightly from about one per 133 units to about one per 136 units, suggesting that fairly high speed motors would be required for adequate response times.
Site plan designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT
The total gross floor area has increased to 45,139 m² from 40,465 m² in the previous application, with 44,737 m² earmarked for residential use and 402 m² earmarked for retail space along Yonge Street, compared to 356 m² previously proposed. The resulting area index increases to 32.51, based on 31.9 times the coverage of the 1,280 m² property. The usable area has been expanded, increasing from 995 m² to 1,019 m² indoors and from 663 m² to 679 m² outdoors, with facilities spread across floors 2, 3 and 11.
Ground floor plan designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT
The previous plan called for nine visitor parking spaces in level forklifts, while the current design calls for two visitor parking spaces on a single level of the underground car park and continues to forego residential parking entirely. In total, the number of bicycle parking spaces will increase to 758 spaces, including 612 long-term and 136 short-term spaces, plus 10 additional short-term spaces, exceeding the previous offering of 597 long-term, 133 visitor and 10 short-term spaces.
The property is approximately 150 m or a two-minute walk south of Wellesley Station on Yonge Line 1 and approximately a 5-minute walk and 350 m north of College Station. Therefore, the lands fall within both the Wellesley and College PMTSAs.
An aerial view of the site and surrounding area, image from submission to the City of Toronto
The proposal unfolds on an increasingly vertical section of Yonge Street. To the west, 68-story 530 Yonge Street is planned, while to the southwest, 33- and 41-story The G2 is planned alongside 59-story 510 Yonge. Further north along the corridor, 619 and 646 Yonge are proposed at 70 and 75 stories, respectively. To the east, the 42-storey Yonge at Wellesley station is under construction, with further proposals for 34 Maitland (56 storeys) and 33 Maitland (62 storeys). To the south of the site, 475 Yonge is envisioned as a pair of 75- and 78-story towers, while 2 Carlton would reach 80 stories.
Looking northwest at 543 Yonge Street, designed by Arcadis for CentreCourt, Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc. and Choice Properties REIT
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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