On The Map
55C Bloor yorkville residences slated for completion in 2023
When condo developers unveil units in a project, they tend to save the best for last — the “best” being penthouse suites, which typically go up for sale after most, if not all, of the lower units have been snapped up.
But MOD developments recently turned this approach on its head by saving 10 luxury townhomes until the end, at the base of its 55C Bloor yorkville residences. The 48-storey tower, under construction at 55 Charles St. E., is slated for completion in 2023.
It was always Mod’s intent to offer a variety of designs and sizes, CEO Gary Switzer explains, including studios, one-bedrooms, oneplus-dens, two-bedrooms and three-bedroom configurations in the 651-unit project, which launched in 2019. And if they had stuck to the usual script, shared amenities or retail space would have gone in at ground level.
As the project took shape, however, 55C’s laneway-bordered location and clever lobby design by architects Alliance and Cecconi Simone presented an opportunity.
“unless you’re right on yonge or Church, Charles isn’t a great retail street,” Switzer says.
“At the same time, with landscaped private mewses to the east and Macy dubois Lane to the west and south, we were able to incorporate grade-related townhome entrances and back doors that connect to a ground-floor corridor.”
And because 55C features a double-height residential lobby, a mezzanine connects the townhomes’ second storeys to the rest of the building and its four levels of underground parking, bike storage, concierge services, and delivery and storage facilities, plus 20,000 square feet of shared amenities.
Those amenities include a ground-floor pet spa, lounges, private dining rooms, kitchens and bars, a fitness facility with steam rooms and a yoga studio, and an expansive 8th-floor rooftop garden designed by landscape architect Janet rosenberg. There will also be indoor lounges, a party room with double-height ceilings, a kitchen, an outdoor lounge with fire pits and barbecues, and a green roof on the penthouse level.
residents of the Towns at 55C will “get all the benefits of living in a condo, but can also just walk out their front doors onto the street,” Switzer says, adding this “coincidentally” aligns with the recent boom in townhome sales.
According to the most recent poll about home-buying intentions conducted by the Toronto regional real Estate Board (TRREB), three-quarters of respondents were interested in buying a “ground-oriented” home to better separate their personal life from their workspace.
“We’ve been talking a lot about a greater diversity of supply being required in the GTA, especially of the sort that bridges the gap between condos and detached homes,” TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer says. “Townhomes are filling that void.”
ranging from 1,009 to 1,684 square feet, the twoand three-bedroom towns at 55C feature private landscaped outdoor spaces with gas lines; 10- and nine-foot ceilings on their first and second floors, respectively; full-size Panasonic appliances with induction cooktops; kitchen islands; and built-in benches and tables. All units offer 2.5 bathrooms, including ensuites with separate showers and tubs.
“With the pandemic, there’s all this discussion about people wanting outdoor space and room for home offices,” Switzer says, “so the timing of releasing these townhouses is really working in our favour.”
The Towns at 55C start at $1.3 million. For more information, visit www.55charlesresidences.com.