Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough brick and beam lofts for sale at any one time in the Toronto loft market. There are always so many people looking and not enough listings. Keep an open mind and you will find a plethora of converted office buildings, many of them downtown. And one of the best examples – and one of the most downtownish of them all – is 8 Wellesley.

The lofts at 8 Wellesley as they look today

Buildings like this offer good alternatives. They have the open floor plans and the high ceilings. Large windows and concrete columns. And they tend to be in more central locations than a lot of the old factories and warehouses. Completed in 1997, this converted office building is one of downtown’s hidden gems. With huge suites and high ceilings, you would not believe the price per square foot.

Some of the Eight Wellesley owners have renovated luxuriously

I have dug and searched and asked around, but I cannot find out anything about the previous office building. I know it was reddish coloured and that is about it. The best I could do was to find it mid-conversion, sometime around 1995-1996.

The office building in the middle of its conversion to lofts in 1995-1996

Office or condo, it’s hard to imagine a more central or convenient downtown location than the eighty fine lofts at 8 Wellesley Street East! Prominently located in the heart of Toronto’s downtown core at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley, you’re just steps away from vibrant Yonge Street shopping, movie theatres, Yorkville, Yonge & Bloor – and tons of restaurants ranging from cheap and cheerful to elegant.

The lofts have flooring ranging from concrete to parquet to hardwood

Second floor units have massive terraces with 300-400 square feet of outdoor space overlooking Yonge Street. The roof garden has amazing views of the city and the location could not be better with the subway literally next door. Easily one of the best priced loft buildings in all of Toronto.

Colour abounds in many of the Eight Wellesley lofts

Eight Wellesley Lofts, a converted office building, may just be the home you are looking for! With massive suites and high ceilings, you will quickly forget that you are in the heart of Toronto. And as you grab some sun on the building’s rooftop garden, the trials and tribulations of city living will immediately be forgotten.

The penthouse lofts can be quite large at 8 Wellesley

The lofts at 8 Wellesley also offer some fantastic amenities for residents to enjoy. These include the landscaped rooftop patio with barbeques, gym overlooking the patio, saunas, spacious party room with 20 foot ceilings and dramatic views, plus a 24 hour concierge.

The rooftop terrace at 8 Wellesley is one of the best in the city

What started life as an office building (designed by Peter Caspari) sometime after the Yonge subway line was built in the 1950s, the building was stripped to its concrete shell in 1995-96 when it was converted to condominiums from office space. It was Dermot J. Sweeney Architects Ltd. who did the conversion to lofts, which involved stripping it right down to the concrete.

8 Wellesley as it looked before many of the new condos were built nearby

There is a very tiny underground parking lot with only 20 spaces. Getting your hands on one is not easy. But with this location and the Wellesley subway station next door, you really don’t need a car to live here. I am one of the few agents who have bought and sold multiple units here, so please get in touch if you have any questions.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto real estate agent with Century 21 Regal Realty.
He did not write every article, some are reproduced here for people who
are interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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