St. Leslieville Church Lofts, 175 Jones Ave: A 1914 Church, 26 Homes

St. Leslieville Church Lofts is about as rare as Toronto condos get: a century-old heritage church turned into fourteen lofts, with a dozen modern townhomes beside it, all in one small corporation. Buyers come for the lancet windows and the history. They should stay for a hard look at how a building like this is maintained. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

St. Clement’s: from parish church to lofts

The church at 175 Jones Avenue was built as St. Clement’s Anglican Church. The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario gives a completion date of 1914, while blogTO’s coverage dates it to 1913; either way, it is more than a century old. It is a Gothic Revival building, designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, and it is tied to Leslieville’s growth from a brickmaking hamlet into a city neighbourhood.

The church closed in 2006 and sat empty for years. A conversion plan existed by 2012, stalled, and came back to life around 2015 with deCargani Developments leading the church lofts and Lifestyle Custom Homes building the townhomes. The corporation was finally registered in May 2019.

The heritage designation is the key fact for buyers. It is why the Gothic exterior and lancet windows survived, and it also means changes to the exterior are controlled. You are buying into a building whose appearance is protected, which is good for long-term value and limits what the corporation can do with the shell.

Two very different kinds of home in one corporation

City planning documents describe 14 residential units inside the church and 12 stacked townhouse units on the formerly vacant lot to the south, which matches the 26 suites condos.ca lists. Open Architects is credited with the townhomes; the ACO also lists Van Elslander + Associates Architects on the project, and Wicklem Design for interiors.

The church lofts are the draw. When the project relaunched, blogTO reported the smallest church unit at about 807 square feet, with most over 1,000. Later coverage of the finished lofts describes exposed brick, hardwood and an industrial-loft feel rather than a chapel, with a salvaged church chandelier kept as a feature.

Condos.ca lists sizes from 214 to 1,561 square feet. I would treat the bottom of that range with caution, since it does not match any suite size reported for the project, and check the actual area of any suite on the floor plan and status certificate.

The two current listings are three-bedroom and three-bedroom-plus-den homes, which is unusual for a condo and closer to what Leslieville buyers expect from a semi.

One honest caveat about the church suites. Fitting fourteen homes into a church means dividing the nave and adding floors, and when the plans were reviewed some observers felt the layout gave up too much of the original light and pitched ceiling. Not every loft gets the full height or the best windows. Walk several suites if you can, and judge each one on its own light and volume rather than on the building’s story.

The stacked townhomes are a different product altogether: new construction, more conventional layouts and private terraces, with the church as the neighbour rather than the home. They suit buyers who want the address and the small-building feel without heritage quirks inside their own walls.

Jones Avenue, between Leslieville and the Ontario Line

Jones Avenue is a residential street of older houses running north from Queen Street East. The church sits a short walk from both Queen and Gerrard, so you get Leslieville’s restaurants and shops to the south without living on a main road.

The Ontario Line will change this pocket. Metrolinx is building Gerrard Station near Gerrard and Carlaw, a few blocks west, and Leslieville Station near Queen. Construction effects at both sites were still a live local topic in mid-2026, so expect some disruption nearby before the benefit arrives. The automatic panel on this page covers current transit and schools.

Living in a converted church on a house-lined street has a practical side too. Your neighbours are families in semis, not a commercial strip, so the street is usually quiet at night. Condos.ca lists no visitor parking, so ask how guests and deliveries are handled. Visit at the school run and on a weekend evening before you decide.

Pricing a building with almost no comparables

There is no reliable building-wide price per square foot for this building, and with only 26 suites, two very different housing types and few sales each year, that is not surprising. The TRREB data panel on this page shows twelve-month medians where there are enough trades to report them.

The two active listings as I write this, both three-bedroom layouts, ask roughly $1.28 million to $1.44 million, with monthly fees of about $761 to $1,014. At that level you are pricing against Leslieville semis and freehold townhouses, not against condos.

The fee includes common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and hydro are not listed as included. For a church loft with tall windows and high volume, ask for actual heating bills before you make an offer; they can be meaningfully higher than in a modern building of the same size.

When you compare prices, separate the two housing types. A church loft and a stacked townhome in the same corporation are not comparables for each other, and a buyer who treats them as one market will either overpay or miss the premium the church suites deserve.

Building specifications

Amenities at St. Leslieville Church Lofts

For 26 homes, a party room, rec room, rooftop deck and bike storage is a generous list. The rooftop and bike room are the ones owners on a Leslieville side street actually use.

Jatin’s honest take on St. Leslieville Church Lofts

St. Leslieville Church Lofts — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.