Commercial & Retail

As part of the adaptive reuse of the historic block at Yonge and St. Joseph Streets, the FIVE Condos project at 5 St. Joseph celebrates the area’s commercial heritage, while creating a mix of new uses to enhance and rejuvenate this diverse, urban neighbourhood. The project includes half a block of designated heritage buildings between...

The Bishop’s Block, a designated heritage property, was built circa 1829. It is considered one of the oldest buildings left in Toronto’s downtown core. Originally consisting of five upscale Georgian row houses, the Block housed the Adelaide Hotel in the early 20th century and more recently the popular Pretzel Bell Tavern. By 2005 the building...

The Allenby Theatre (also re-named the 99cent Roxy) opened in 1935 and was designed by the well-known Toronto architectural firm Kaplan and Sprachman. Kaplan and Sprachman were responsible for the design of roughly seventy-five percent of all movie theatres in Canada between the years of 1921 and 1950. At the time of the Great Depression,...

The section of Dundas Street West stretching between University Ave. and Bathurst St. is an important tourist destination and is recognized as a potential creative corridor for the City of Toronto. In 2010, the City commissioned a streetscape study for this section of the street to improve the quality of the public realm, identify distinct...

The Automotive Building was constructed in 1929 as a venue for the exhibition of new automobiles. This use continued until the 1960s, however, over the years various unsympathetic renovations occurred and after 80 years the building had became outdated and was no longer in demand as an exhibition space. The new project involved rehabilitating the...

Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital was founded on this site in 1923. In 1930, a new surgical wing was built by architects Kaminker & Richmond, and the hospital remained on this site until 1953. Subsequently it became a nurse’s residence and then a senior citizens’ home. The property was designated in 1985, but the 1930 wing...

The Artscape Wychwood Barns are located on the southwest corner of Wychwood and Benson Avenues, near St. Clair Avenue. The modular structure to house streetcars was built between 1913 and 1921 for the Toronto Civic Railway, a transportation system that played a significant role in the development of the newly annexed suburban areas in the...

The Wesley Building was designed by Burke Horwood & White in 1913 to house the Methodist Book and Publishing Company (later the Ryerson Press). This broadcasting building is a designated heritage property, distinctive for its fine cream-coloured terra cotta tile cladding and ornamentation. ERA was retained to oversee the restoration of the terra cotta tile...

The Richmond Adelaide Centre consists of a large block of commercial buildings in downtown Toronto. Significant heritage buildings, from the 1920s through to the 1960s exist on the site including the Concourse Building (100 Adelaide St. W.) of 1929, an important heritage property designated by the City of Toronto under Part IV of the Ontario...

The Miller House is a 1-1/2 storey home located on the property of the Pillar and Post in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario which dates back to 1817. Despite its 190 years of survival, the Miller House is remarkably intact for a building of its age. On the interior very few modifications have taken place. Original finishes survive...

The former Eaton’s College Street contains one of the finest Art Moderne interiors in Canada, the Carlu. It was commissioned by Sir John Craig Eaton to be the flagship for Eaton’s department store. Opened in 1931, the Carlu was an impressive and grand complex that was home to refined social and cultural events, hosting several...

Crangle’s Collision (the former International Harvesters’ Building) has been an Art Moderne accent at the corner of Bathurst and Wellington since its construction in 1940. This two-storey commercial building, designed by architect Neil A. Armstrong, served as headquarters for the American producer of agricultural equipment, and more recently as an auto body shop. A listed...