In Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood, a historic brick-and-beam building formerly used as a post office recently hit the market, touting potential opportunities for development.
Colliers International recently listed 1117 Queen Street West for sale on behalf of the vendor, cited as Canada Post Corporation, according to the property’s offering memorandum. Marketed as a “landmark property,” the two-storey building near Queen Street West and Lisgar Street offers new possibilities for a variety of uses.
“The property and location attributes are unparalleled for a variety of uses for both the occupier or investor/developer who can leverage the neighbourhood’s world class retail, explosive residential growth and surrounding mixed use developments,” reads the listing’s offering memorandum.
Built in 1902 by architect Samuel George Curry, the building is located in the West Queen West Heritage Conservation District, and has been listed under the City of Toronto’s Heritage Register as “Postal Station C” since June 1973. The building is not currently listed under the Ontario Heritage Trust, which has also been confirmed by additional reporting regarding the property.
“Non-designated listed properties do not have any protection under the Ontario Heritage Act, except insofar as an owner must give the council at least 60 days notice of their intention to demolish or remove a structure on the property,” explains the memorandum.
“This allows the municipality time to decide whether to move forward with designation of the property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act,” it adds.
Located in a mixed-use district, zoning by-laws for 1117 Queen Street West would permit — but are not limited to — residential uses like condos, apartments, senior housing and university residences, as per the memorandum. Non-residential uses are also approved, including parks, community service buildings, retail, workshop, hotel and office uses.
In a letter penned to local residents in January, Member of Parliament for Davenport Julie Dzerowicz commented on the closure of the post office, noting community requests for the building to be turned into “an Arts and Culture space.”
In July 2020, architectural firm IBI Group prepared development concepts for 1117 Queen Street West, presenting three different versions of intensification for the site. The “conservative” plan would see the creation of a seven-storey building with 80 units, followed by a “progressive” concept that reaches 10 storeys with 107 units. The largest concept of the three, the “aggressive” plan, would entail a 13-storey mid-rise with 130 units.
The list price for the property is not publicly available. The bid date, when Colliers and the vendor will review letters of intent, is scheduled for Wednesday, July 14th.
In the neighbourhood, sales and construction continues at XO Condos and 1181 Queen West Condos.
