Toronto City Council has approved one of the city’s tallest purpose-built rental developments, clearing Elysium Investments’ plans for a 70-storey tower at 164-168 Isabella St.

The 228.5-metre building will contain 599 apartments, including 50 replacement rental units, on a roughly 0.46-acre property near Sherbourne subway station. Its height places it well above most Toronto rental developments recently completed or under construction.

A separate proposal at 55 Isabella St. calls for a 75-storey, 843-unit rental tower, but that application has not been approved. Many of Toronto’s largest active rental developments achieve their unit counts through multiple buildings rather than a single rental skyscraper.

Two designated late-19th-century residential buildings currently occupy the Elysium property. The heritage structures will be moved closer to Isabella Street and incorporated into the base of the new tower.

The development will demolish existing rental building on the site and replace 38 apartments with units of the same type and rent classification, secured for at least 10 years. It will also replace 25 affordable dwelling rooms with 12 rental studios. The studios will carry affordable rents for a minimum of 15 years.

Elysium is a Toronto investment and development firm that assembles projects with landowners, investors and development partners. The firm acts as general partner, invests alongside its partners and oversees acquisitions, planning approvals and municipal engagement.

Elysium said in 2024 that its pipeline was approaching 4,000 homes and $3 billion of development. Its other projects include an 873-unit rental proposal near High Park and an approved 832-unit development at Weston Road and Finch Avenue West.

The Isabella approval does not establish a construction date.