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Ontario  + Apartments  | 
Rendering of proposed 60-storey redevelopment project near the University of Toronto.

Alignvest Proposes 60-Storey Student Housing Tower near U of T

Alignvest Student Housing REIT is seeking to redevelop a heritage building as part of a 60-storey tower in downtown Toronto.

Known as the Stewart building, the property is located at 149 College Street, in short walking distance from the University of Toronto’s St. George campus and the Queen’s Park station. The six-storey building was constructed in 1894 and originally known as the Toronto Athletic Club.

A comprehensive development application has been filed with the city.

Plans call for the new structure to be built on top of the Stewart building and contain 480 private student residences, 225 other dwellings expected to be market-rate rental and condominium units and 6,000 square feet of institututional spaces. Sweeny & Co. Architects is designing the project.

Toronto-based Alignvest and Northwest Partners bought the property in November 2023 for the purpose of redeveloping it.

“This is an exceptional opportunity to build much-needed facilities in the heart of the Mars Discovery District for institutional, commercial and residential uses, including housing for students attending the University of Toronto, Canada’s largest post-secondary institution, with the property ideally located across from the university’s main entrance,” Sanjil Shah, Alignvest’s managing partner, said at the time of the acquisition.

The property is currently leased to the U of T.

Rendering: City of Toronto/Sweeny & Co. Architects 

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Inside The Story

Sanjil ShahAlignvest

About Monte Stewart

Monte Stewart serves as Content Director - Canada for Connect Commercial Real Estate. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monte provides daily news coverage of major Canadian commercial real estate markets, including Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. He has written about the real estate sector for various media outlets and Avison Young since the early 2000s. In addition, he has covered sports, general news and business for several leading wire services and publications, including The Canadian Press, The Associated Press, The Calgary Herald, The Globe and Mail, Research Money, The Daily Oil Bulletin, Natural Gas World and The Toronto Star. Monte is active in his community as a youth basketball coach and raises funds for such charitable causes as Movember.

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