Toronto is converting this Harbord Village heritage building into a homeless shelter
It’s 720 Bathurst, the former home of the Centre for Social Innovation, and it cost the city $16 million
A Toronto real estate mystery has been solved. In August, an anonymous entity purchased the building at 720 Bathurst, the former home of the Centre for Social Innovation, for $16 million. It turns out the buyer was the city, which now plans to turn the heritage standout into an Indigenous homeless shelter.
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The five-storey, 36,000-square-foot shelter should open in 2028 or 2029 and will house up to 80 people. It will provide 24/7 staffing and security, nutritious meals, laundry facilities, on-site medical care, and cultural programming.
The project is part of Toronto’s strategy to open 20 new shelters by 2033. And the need is profound. The city reports that Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by homelessness, accounting for three per cent of Toronto’s population yet nine per cent of its unhoused population. Currently, 720 Bathurst’s ward, University-Rosedale, has no shelters offering Indigenous-specific services for adults.
In an email to Toronto Life, Brian Burchell, general manager of the Bloor Annex BIA, expressed both disappointment and optimism about the project. “The city seems to act first and then consult later,” he said. “We hope to have the opportunity to impact the shelter’s programming and safety plans, to ensure it is a net contributor to the area.”
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A community meeting will be held early in the new year to discuss the plans.
CSI had announced its intention to sell the building in 2023, citing high maintenance costs, soaring interest rates and inflation as well as the popularization of remote work. Today, the institute operates solely from its location at 192 Spadina Avenue.
