DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
January 30, 2026 2.4K
Revision of College Park proposal swaps tower heights, slightly increases supertall
Revised plans have been submitted for the redevelopment of College Park at Yonge and College streets in downtown Toronto, adding improvements to the layout, rental housing and phasing to the three-tower mixed-use proposal. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for GWL Realty Advisors, the new plan cuts 10 floors from the top of the North Tower and adds them to the South Tower, effectively swapping the locations of the 65- and 75-story buildings, while retaining a central 96-story “supertall” building over 1,000 feet tall while slightly increasing the tower’s height.
Looking northeast at the revamped College Park Redevelopment designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for GWL Realty Advisors
College Park is located on the southwest corner of Yonge and College Streets and is addressed at 420 to 444 Yonge Street and 1 to 23 College Street. Currently occupied by the historic College Park complex and its neighbors, the site is known for its seven-story Art Deco volume buildings of retail, office and cultural spaces, including the Carlu events venue on the seventh floor, a rental apartment building to the south and a modern office tower to the west.
Looking southwest toward College Park, image courtesy of GWL Realty Advisors
Originally built between 1928 and 1930 as Eaton’s College Street department store, College Park was conceived by Ross & Macdonald as a monumental Art Deco complex that would rival the size and sophistication of North American commercial monuments of the early 20th century. Acquired by GWL Realty Advisors in 2000, the complex underwent a major restoration that returned the seventh floor auditorium to public use as a Carlu venue. A first development application was submitted in July 2025. Now, Urban Strategies Inc. has submitted revised zoning bylaw amendment and official plan amendment applications to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer.
Previous design by Hariri Pontarini Architects for GWL Realty Advisors
The revised proposal retains the general site layout introduced in July 2025, with three new residential towers rising on an expanded and restored podium. Since 10 floors were moved from the North Tower to the South Tower, the new heights of the lowest main doors on the ground floor are 235.23 m (North – 65 floors) and 271.15 m (South – 75 floors), while the central tower, which still has 96 floors and had a previous top height of 333.37 m, would now be 344.29 m. The 10-story redistribution maintains the overall density of the redevelopment while reducing the impact of the redevelopment on the heritage corridors of the Old Town Hall and New Town Hall. These changes, as well as further optimizations to the podium, lead to a slight reduction in the area index from 20.94 to 20.89 times the area of ​​the site and to a slight reduction in the gross floor area (GFA) from 236,304 m² to 235,771 m².
Elevation transfer diagram, image from submission to the City of Toronto
The total GFA for residential properties increases slightly from 164,263 m² to 166,004 m², with minor adjustments in the GFA for condominiums (increasing) and the GFA for rentals (reducing). Non-residential use would total 69,767 m² (up from 72,041 m²) and continues to include retail, flexible commercial space, hotel accommodation, daycare and cultural uses, with retail and hotel space increasing while flexible commercial space is reduced.
Looking northeast at the reimagined College Park Redevelopment designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for GWL Realty Advisors
Across the site, the new proposal proposes 2,339 residential units, a modest increase on the 2,334 units previously, which will be provided in a mix of replacement rentals, purpose-built rentals and condominiums. All rental housing would be consolidated within the North Tower, including 216 rental replacement units, up from 244 in the July 2025 plan, while restoring equivalent replacement by bedroom type and reducing excess replacement units, increasing the proportion of two- and three-bedroom units from 34% to approximately 44% through adaptable and convertible floor plans. Vertical circulation between the three towers would be provided by 20 residential elevators, with six elevators each in the 65- and 75-story towers and eight elevators in the 96-story tower, an average ratio of about one elevator per 117 units, meaning high-speed motors are required to ensure quick response times.
Programming diagram, image from submission to the City of Toronto
Resident facilities will be expanded, with the total area of ​​leisure facilities increasing from 11,467 m² to 12,284 m². The internal areas increase significantly from 5,616 m² to 6,892 m², while the external areas decrease from 5,892 m² to 5,392 m². In the outdoor areas on the platforms, lattice structures are installed in several places to mitigate the effects of the wind. The public realm improvements also extend to the ground floor open space network, where on-site parking usage is increased from 530 m² to 600 m² and consolidated into a single contiguous space adjacent to the existing Barbara Ann Scott Park. A covered trellis structure is now also planned at ground level, also to mitigate wind speeds at ground level.
Ground floor plan designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for GWL Realty Advisors
The monument preservation will continue to be monitored by ERA Architects. The approach places great emphasis on comprehensive in-situ preservation of the original building, including full preservation of the Yonge and College street facades and partial preservation of the south and west facades, along with a new podium addition that interprets the scale and materiality of the original design. The interior restoration would restore the ground floor arcade and revitalize the seventh floor Carlu Rooms.
Looking northeast towards the podium designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for GWL Realty Advisors
Below grade, the renovation would retain a three-story underground parking garage with 76 spaces, unchanged from the July 2025 proposal. The number of bicycle parking spaces increases from approximately 2,980 to 3,189 spaces. A key operational change is to move the North Tower bicycle parking to the tower’s base building, shifting access from Hayter Street to College Street to make it far more convenient for North Tower residents.
The site acts as a key pedestrian access to the College subway station via an existing entrance embedded in the complex as well as a new south entrance already under construction. The TTC surface transit routes also serve College, Carlton, Bay and Yonge streets on the edges of the complex.
An aerial view of the Orange site and surrounding area, image from submission to the City of Toronto
College Park is located in one of the most developing sections of Toronto’s Yonge Street corridor. Nearby projects north of the site include: The G2, with towers planned to be 31 and 33 stories tall, a planned redevelopment at 475 Yonge with 75- and 78-story towers, and an 80-story proposal at 2 Carlton. Major projects in the south include the 66-story design at 415 Yonge, a planned 75-story tower at 399 Yonge, the 85-story Concord Sky currently under construction, an 85-story design at 372 Yonge, and the Chelsea Green project, which consists of three towers ranging from 31 to 90 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.
* * *
UrbanToronto’s research and data service, UTPro, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe – from proposal to completion. Other services include instant reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from the first application.​
