Sold for 27% above list price / 20% more than the going price per square foot.

 

THE MERCHANDISE LOFTS

Built from 1910 and 1950 for Simpson’s delivery business, the building architect was Max Dunning of the firm of Burke, Horwood and White. This noted Canadian firm's other work in Toronto includes what is now the Bell Media Building on Queen Street W and the Simpsons (now The Bay) flagship store at the corner of Queen Street and Yonge Street

The Robert Simpson Co. Ltd. Mail-Order Building incorporated many features, that while commonplace today, were relatively novel at the time - a steel structure, reinforced, fire-proof concrete, well-positioned emergency stairwells, and large windows for natural light. The building's water needs were assisted by a 40,000 gallon rooftop water tower.

In the 1990s the City of Toronto government had relaxed zoning restrictions in certain areas of the downtown core, allowing redevelopment of under-used or empty 19th and 20th century factories and warehouses. There was a plan to convert the warehouse into public housing, but the City in the end sold the property to Cresford Developments. The project was one of the earlier and by far the largest warehouse loft conversions in Toronto.

The ambitious plan to completely modernize the building was delayed by a general construction strike and a spectacular three-alarm fire, started when a worker tossed a cigarette butt into one of the old freight elevator shafts, landing on a massive pile of debris dumped from all the floors to be cleared from the bottom. The huge pile burned for hours, but the building did not, testament to the original designer's intent in 1914 to create a structure as fire-proof as possible.

Other environmental upgrades include a "Tri-Sorter" recycling chute that accommodates 3 types of waste. The entire building is wired with fibre-optic cable, has a rooftop pool, patio, and dog-walking area, and all the usual amenities in a large condominium, plus some unusual ones including a four-storey interior lobby and indoor half-basketball court. The interior design team of Simone-Ciccone produced nine different primary suite layouts with over sixty variations. Interior features include 8-foot (2.4 m) sliding barn doors, 12-foot (3.7 m) ceilings with exposed duct work and support pillars with capitals, and ten foot windows. The ground floor of the building is retail, anchored by a supermarket