Victoria Lofts, 152 Annette St: Living Inside an 1892 Junction Church

Most church conversions in Toronto are sold on stained glass and a good story. Victoria Lofts has both, but what I actually point buyers to is the paperwork: this is a designated heritage building with a city by-law that spells out exactly what has to stay, and that shapes everything from your windows to your terrace. With only 34 suites, it is also a building where you wait for the right unit rather than pick from a menu. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An 1892 church with a heritage by-law behind it

The building opened in 1892 as West Toronto Junction Presbyterian Church, designed by the partnership of Wilm Knox and John Elliot, two architects who had worked for Burnham and Root in Chicago before practising in Toronto. It was renamed Victoria Presbyterian Church to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, merged with the Royce Avenue congregation in 1969, and closed in June 2006.

City Council designated the property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in February 2009 (By-law 215-2009). The by-law lists the Romanesque Revival details it protects: the red brick with stone, copper and wood trim, the steep cross-gable roof, the oversized round-arched windows, the corner tower with its hipped spire, the arched entrances with leaded glass, and the three-storey Sunday School wing at the northwest corner.

One detail matters to buyers. The by-law states that the interior, including the hammer beam roof, is not part of the reasons for designation. The heritage protection is about what you see from the street, so the inside was free to be reworked into suites, and any original timber you see inside was kept by choice rather than by law.

What the suites are actually like

This is a true hard loft: the walls are the old church, not a new frame wearing old brick. Loft guides describe exposed original brick, restored beams running across the upper levels, and a mix of one- and two-storey plans. Several suites have outdoor space set back inside the church’s arches, which keeps the exterior looking as it did.

The size range is wide, from about 588 sq ft to more than 2,500 sq ft, and the largest plan is reported to take in the bell tower. That spread is typical of a church conversion. Developers fit suites around a large open nave, a tower and a side wing, so no two plans are alike.

That is also the main caution. Church conversions leave a lot of awkward volume in the middle of the building, and only some suites get the big arched windows or the beams. When I walk a buyer through here, I spend as much time on the floor plan and the light as on the finishes. A dark interior unit with one small window is a very different home from a corner suite under the gable.

A small building with parking included

Thirty-four suites is small enough that the board knows the owners, and large enough to spread the costs of a heritage building across more than a handful of people. That balance matters, because masonry repointing, roof and spire work and old window openings are expensive, and in a heritage building they have to be done the right way.

Condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, water, building insurance and parking, and the building has a parking garage. Parking in the fee is unusual in a conversion this size and is worth a lot on these residential side streets. Hydro and heat are not on that inclusion list, so ask the seller for actual utility bills, especially for a two-storey suite with a high ceiling.

The amenity list is short: a party room, a meeting room, BBQs permitted and a security system. Condos.ca also tags the building with a pet restriction. I have not seen the wording, so read the declaration and rules in the status certificate before you assume a large dog is fine.

Annette Street, between the Junction and Bloor West

Annette Street is one of the Junction’s church streets. The heritage by-law notes that Victoria-Royce sits in a row of church buildings, including the 1890 Keele Street Church of Christ at 99 Annette, the 1888 Annette Street Baptist Church at 200 Annette (now Park Lofts) and High Park-Alhambra United at 260 High Park Avenue.

Around them are mature streets of century houses. The Junction’s shops and restaurants on Dundas Street West sit to the north and Bloor West Village to the south, so day-to-day errands are a walk in either direction. The transit, school and park details are in the data panel on this page.

Because this stretch is low-rise and heritage-heavy, I would not expect it to change much. Buyers here are paying for a quiet residential setting with character, not for proximity to a new tower district.

What you pay for heritage here

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,048 per square foot. That is a premium for the west end and well above most other Junction and Wallace Emerson lofts, where industrial conversions average roughly $730 to $910 per square foot on condos.ca. Buyers are paying for the church, the low suite count and parking in the fee.

With only 34 suites, there are only a handful of sales a year and sometimes almost none, so the average can swing a lot depending on which suites sold. A two-storey suite with an arched window and a terrace is not comparable to a small single-level unit, even in the same building. I price these suite by suite, using the aggregate sold data on this page for context rather than as a target.

At the time of writing there was one suite for sale and none for rent. One listing is not a market, so I would not anchor on it. If you are serious about this building, set up an alert and be ready to move, or use the building sold report to see how recent sales have gone.

Building specifications

Amenities at Victoria Lofts

There is no gym, pool or concierge here, and that is by design. In a 34-suite heritage building, your fees go to the brick, the roof and the garage rather than to staff and machinery, and the party and meeting rooms are about as much as a building this size can sensibly run.

Jatin’s honest take on Victoria Lofts

Victoria Lofts — frequently asked questions

Looking at the Junction, Corso Italia, Hillcrest Village and west-central Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.