- What Elevate Living has proposed an 18-storey rental building in St. Catharines, Ont.
- Why The downtown site has been vacant since 2013
- What next The city will review the development application
Elevate Living is eyeing downtown St. Catharines, Ont., for an 18-storey, purpose-built rental project.
In an application submitted to the city, Elevate proposed the construction of 492 units at 159 Ontario Street.
Plans call for a seven-storey podium, the ground floor of which would have 3,500 sq ft of retail space. The space would be split into two units, with a pharmacy and coffee shop in mind.
At the rear of the building would be a two-storey, open-air garage with 369 spaces.
The residential units would comprise studios to three-bedroom suites and would include market-rate and affordable units. Amenity space would be provided throughout the building, including pickleball courts and barbecue areas on the roof of the podium. Inside, there would be a fitness room and co-working space.
A public parkland dedication would be made in the form of a 5m-wide trail providing access from Ontario Street to the Merritt Trail at the back of the property.
The site was formerly occupied by the Hotel Dieu Hospital, which closed in 2013 and was demolished three years later. The property is close to restaurants and shopping in downtown and is just over a kilometre from the St. Catharine’s GO station. The Queen Elizabeth Way is 2km away.
Elevate purchased the land in November 2024 for $8.3m and obtained a $6.5m vendor take-back loan from the seller, Seasons Retirement Communities. Seasons completed a 143-unit retirement community on the adjacent lot last year.
Elevate is a Welland, Ont.-based residential developer founded in 2017 by Drew Toth. The firm builds a variety of housing types including condominiums, townhomes, purpose-built rentals and secondary suites.
