Public meeting on plans for 18-storey residential building at CreateTO’s Coxwell Avenue and Queen Street East site in the Beach set for Oct. 22
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
The City of Toronto will be hosting a public meeting to give residents updated information about a proposal for a residential building on a property just southeast of Coxwell Avenue and Queen Street East that has been the subject of intense community debate over the past five years.
The meeting will provide information on the latest proposal for 1631-1641 Queen St. E. The city-owned property also fronts onto Eastern Avenue at its southern side. The proposal comes from CreateTO, the City of Toronto agency that manages municipally-owned properties, and is part of Toronto’s Housing Now initiative to help build affordable and mixed-income housing.
The meeting will be held on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Beaches United Church.
At this time, specific details of the proposal to be discussed are not finalized. An Oct. 3, 2025, Architectural Plans document on the city’s Application Information Centre website indicates two residential buildings are proposed for the site – one of 18 storeys fronting Eastern Avenue and the other of six storeys fronting Queen Street East.
A letter from CreateTO to the city on Oct. 2 outlines the new proposal for the site.
Between the two buildings, there will be 328 residential units representing a mix of styles and sizes, of which a portion will be dedicated for affordable housing. The proposal has 24,275 square metres of gross residential floor space; 958 square metres of childcare space, 154 square metres of commercial space at grade facing Queen Street East; 1,353 square metres of amenity space; 331 bicycle parking spaces; and a midblock connection from Kishigo Lane (on the east side of the proposal).
Back in 20221, a very similar proposal was made and discussed at community meetings.
Currently, the site is home to the Beaches Employment & Social Services Centre, the Coxwell Toronto Early Learning Childcare Centre, a Harvey’s restaurant, and a closed road allowance.
The 2021 proposal did not include the land the Harvey’s was on as the city did not own it at that time. However, the city has since purchased the Harvey’s site and the new proposal will include that land in it.
The project was first announced as a 17-storey building back in 2020, with the first community consultation meeting held that same year. The proposal was later changed to 18-storeys in 2021.
During the several consultation meetings that have taken place since the initial proposal, residents frequently stressed that the 18-storey proposal didn’t comply with the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines which limits buildings in the area to six storeys.
Many residents feared that the proposed development would set a precedent for other new projects along Queen Street East in the Beach.
The last community consultation for the original project proposal was June of 2021. At the time, construction was expected to begin in late 2022, with completion date of 2025. However, nothing else happened on the site and the proposal never went on to the next stage of approvals.
The Oct. 22 meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Beaches United Church is located at 140 Wineva Ave.
For more information about the project, visit https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/application-details/?id=4904387&pid=256455&title=CITY-INITIATED-1631-QUEEN-ST-E.
More information on the proposal from CreateTO can be found at https://createto.ca/projects/1631-queen-street-east
