In May 2026, Toronto City Council approved a 47-storey tower with 730 units at 1233 Yonge Street and 9 Woodlawn Avenue East, a short walk from Summerhill station. Six months earlier, a few blocks north at Yonge and Birch, Woodcliffe Properties asked to roughly halve the residential count of a tower it had already secured, from 130 units to 64.
Both projects owe their scale to the same planning change, the Province's push for density around rapid transit stations. They went in opposite directions on unit count, and the shrinking one is the pattern repeated up and down this stretch of Yonge. Summerhill's towers are being redesigned for buyers who already own large homes in midtown, so the skyline is growing much faster than the number of homes.
The Permissions Rose While the Suite Counts Fell
The City of Toronto describes Major and Protected Major Transit Station Areas as land generally within about 500 to 800 metres of rapid transit. It also notes that provincial approval in August 2025 increased the heights and densities to be allowed there. For the 1233 Yonge site, the City's staff report applies a minimum density of 8.0 FSI within 200 metres of Summerhill station.
Here is how the area's projects have moved through their planning histories:
| Project | Location | Earlier unit count | Current unit count | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Summerhill, Woodcliffe | Yonge and Birch | 130 in the 2024 settlement | 62 suites | Fewer, larger |
| 8 Rosehill | 1365–1375 Yonge | 674, zoned March 2024 | 115 planned | Fewer, larger |
| One Roxborough West | 1086 Yonge | 30 at application | 24 | Fewer |
| 1233 Yonge and 9 Woodlawn | Yonge and Woodlawn | 110 at 13 storeys | 730 approved | More |
Three of the four projects have cut their counts. Two of those, The Summerhill and 8 Rosehill, have kept their height or density ambitions while shrinking the number of homes inside.
Yonge and Birch Was Rebuilt Around Two-Bedroom Suites
Woodcliffe's site sits at 1196 through 1210 Yonge Street and on Birch Avenue, close to the historic North Toronto station that now houses the LCBO. The planning history shows each change in direction. A 2021 application proposed 15 storeys. After an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, a 2024 settlement approved a 32-storey tower with heritage facades retained and 130 residential units, UrbanToronto reported.
The late-2025 redesign kept the 32-storey form but raised the total height from 114 metres to 133.7 metres to allow taller podium ceilings. Office space would fill the first six floors. The residential portion dropped to 64 condo units: 61 two-bedroom suites and three three-bedroom suites. The eight existing rental apartments on the site would be replaced at an off-site property. Woodcliffe's project page now lists 62 suites, with architectsAlliance as designer.
In an October 2026 Mansion Global feature, Woodcliffe Landmark Properties CEO Eve Lewis gave suite sizes from 1,200 to 6,700 square feet, prices from C$2 million to C$25 million, and a 2031 occupancy target. She also described the buyers the building is meant for:
"It'll appeal to empty-nesters who want to 'right-size' and stay in the neighborhood, and to people from the outside, because Summerhill's so cherished. These are the first condos built in the area in 25 years."
At Yonge and Rosehill, the Same Shift
Two blocks south of St. Clair, the 1365–1375 Yonge Street site already had zoning, granted in March 2024, for a 51-storey tower with 674 units. In September 2026, UrbanToronto reported that North Drive Investments had joined Originate Developments and Westdale Properties. The rebranded 8 Rosehill now targets downsizing empty-nesters, described as people with large midtown homes who want to stay in the area but prefer a condo lifestyle.
The new plan calls for 115 suites starting on the tenth floor. Most floors would hold three suites, and the top storeys would hold two suites or a single full-floor home. Richard Wengle is designing the exterior and Reflect Architecture the interiors. UrbanToronto described the shift as a move from "a shoebox-sized investor unit building to a high-end luxury residence with far fewer but larger suites, reflecting current conditions of the Toronto real estate market." The 674-unit scheme is still the one with zoning, and the 115-suite plan is the team's new direction.
Farther south, One Roxborough West at 1086 Yonge Street is the one project in this group already being built. It is a 12-storey building by North Drive Investments with 24 units, down from the 30 in its 2022 application.
Why a Large Suite Gets Built in 2026
The citywide numbers explain the pattern. Toronto Life reported in September, citing CMHC's Fall 2026 Housing Supply Report, that construction began on only 156 condo units in Toronto in the first half of 2026, against a decade-long average of about 7,000. Purpose-built rental starts rose 82 percent year over year.
Small investor suites depend on presale buyers, and in this market few are buying. A buyer who already owns a house in midtown is different. The purchase can be funded from the house, the buyer is acquiring a home rather than a yield, and the motive to stay close to the Five Thieves shops and the ravine trails does not depend on rents. So the projects that keep moving on this corridor are the ones whose unit count fits that pool of buyers.
The rental side of the shift is already visible. The James at 5 Scrivener Square, a 23-storey luxury rental by Tricon Residential and Diamond Corp, adds 127 units to the area. The 730 units at 1233 Yonge are approved, with Official Plan Amendment 921 and Zoning By-law 498-2026 adopted on May 21, 2026, according to the City's notice of the decision. Those permissions set out what may be built on the site. A rezoning on its own does not add any homes to Yonge Street.
The Same Households Are on Both Sides of the Market
TRREB does not publish figures for Summerhill alone. Its Market Watch reports the area inside two districts. C02 includes Yonge-St. Clair west of Yonge, along with the Annex and Casa Loma. C09 includes Rosedale and Moore Park east of Yonge. Read with that in mind, the September 2026 Market Watch shows where the downsizer suites fit:
- C09 detached, September 2026: 6 sales against 51 active listings, an average price of $7,185,000, and homes selling at 93 percent of list after an average of 40 days.
- C02 detached, September 2026: 8 sales against 41 active listings, selling at 96 percent of list.
- C02 condo apartments, September 2026: 30 sales against 237 active listings, a median of $1,237,500, at 96 percent of list after an average of 52 days.
- C09 condo apartments, September 2026: 12 sales at a median of $744,000.
The households these new buildings want as buyers are, in large part, the owners of the detached homes in the softest part of the district market. That makes the timing of the towers and the supply of houses one story. A 62-suite building with a 2031 occupancy target, as Lewis described it to Mansion Global, is aimed at owners of large houses. Those owners would have to sell their houses at some point to move in. The new condo supply and future freehold listings depend on the same decisions.
The resale condo stock is a different product. It is mostly the kind of suite the 2024 schemes were planning more of, and in September 2026 it was turning over slowly in C02. A buyer looking for a two-bedroom suite of 1,200 square feet or more on this corridor has a thin resale pool to choose from. The new version arrives years out, at multimillion-dollar prices.
What a Buyer Comparing Midtown Can Take From This
For a buyer weighing Summerhill against Rosedale, Moore Park or Yonge-St. Clair, the towers going up nearby do not mean a wave of new homes is coming soon. The approved count at 1233 Yonge is large. The projects advancing on the rest of the corridor are adding a few dozen to roughly a hundred suites each, built for buyers who already own homes nearby. A freehold buyer in 2026 is competing against relatively few listings in any given month: 8 detached sales in C02 and 6 in C09 in September 2026. Some of the owners who might eventually sell are the same people these suites are designed for.
A Few Questions Buyers Ask
Is the 1233 Yonge tower approved? Yes. Toronto and East York Community Council adopted the staff recommendation on April 30, 2026, and City Council adopted it on May 20 and 21, 2026. The City's notice set June 17, 2026 as the deadline for appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Does the transit-station zoning change parking in these buildings? The City's guidance says minimum parking cannot be required in Major and Protected Major Transit Station Areas. As of the page's June 30, 2026 update, the City's implementation zoning had no settled Council timeline.
When would The Summerhill be ready? Lewis gave 2031 as the occupancy target in her October 2026 interview with Mansion Global. That is a schedule, and it is not a completion date.
If you own a midtown home and are weighing a large suite in one of these buildings, the timing of your sale and the timing of your purchase belong in one plan. Revered Residences can set out how a Summerhill or Rosedale house is likely to trade in today's district market, so your decisions about the condo and the house follow from the same numbers. Let's Connect.
