Wrigley Lofts, 245 Carlaw Ave: The 1916 Gum Factory Sold as Raw Space

Wrigley Lofts is the building I point to when someone asks what a real Toronto hard loft is. It was a chewing gum factory from 1916 to 1963, it still has its mushroom columns, and the first buyers bought empty space and built their own homes inside it. That last fact explains both why people love it and why every purchase here needs extra care. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Wrigley’s Canadian gum factory

The Leslieville Historical Society has pieced the building’s story together from newspaper and archive records. Contracts for a Wrigley factory on Carlaw were let in the fall of 1914. The company planned three storeys, then got a permit for two more as wartime demand for gum climbed. The south building was finished in early 1916, and a matching north building followed, completed in 1919.

The architects were the firm of Prack and Perrine, who also designed the Palmolive plant across the street, and the style was Beaux Arts, borrowed in part from Wrigley’s Chicago factory. Wrigley even built its own fire hall around the corner on Boston Avenue in 1918. The company stayed until 1963, when it moved to a new plant on Leslie Street north of Eglinton, and the Carlaw building passed through a series of other tenants.

This history is not just colour. It explains the bones of the place: a heavy concrete industrial structure designed to carry machinery, with big window openings for factory light. Those are exactly the features that make a hard loft worth paying for. In 2014 City heritage staff proposed studying 181, 235 and 245 Carlaw for the heritage inventory; check the City’s current listing if heritage status matters to your plans.

Bought as raw space, so no two suites match

When Atria converted the building in 1998, it sold much of it as raw space, reportedly at about $100 a square foot, and owners built out their own suites. That is why the building is famous for variety. Some suites have spiral stairs up to sleeping lofts, some are wide open, and sizes range from roughly 300 to over 3,000 square feet according to people who have tracked the building for years.

The common features are the factory itself: original industrial windows, concrete mushroom columns, polished concrete floors, and exposed pipes and ductwork. Ceiling heights are quoted at 14 feet by one source and 13.5 feet by another, which is close enough that I would simply measure the suite you are considering.

The flip side of owner-built suites is that quality depends entirely on who did the work and when. A 1998 build-out done well is a joy; one done cheaply can mean dated bathrooms, improvised mezzanines or mechanical work you will want inspected. I treat every Wrigley purchase as a custom home purchase, not a condo purchase.

Practically, that means the listing photos tell you more here than in most buildings, but never enough. Floor plans are often hand-drawn or missing, square footage may include a mezzanine, and two suites of the same size can live completely differently. Walk the suite with a tape measure and a contractor’s eye before you form a view on price.

What live/work actually means here

This is a live/work building, and the 1998 City report on the neighbouring 233 Carlaw conversion describes the Wrigley building as being converted into live/work units with some office and industrial uses retained. In practice that means a neighbour may run a studio or small business from their suite. Creative tenants have always been part of the building’s identity.

The trade-off is daytime traffic. One brokerage that knows the building well says the small, slow elevator is busy with couriers during business hours, while nights are quiet. If you work from home and value a calm building during the day, visit on a weekday afternoon before you commit, and read the declaration and rules for what business use is permitted.

Unit counts vary by source, which is typical for a building that was carved out of raw space: the City’s 1998 report mentions 76 live/work units, two loft-specialist sources say 79, and condos.ca lists 81. The status certificate will give you the definitive number of units and how common expenses are shared.

Pricing a building where nothing is comparable

Condos.ca does not publish an average price per square foot for this building, and with no suites for sale and one for rent when this page was prepared, there is no current asking range to describe. That is normal here. Wrigley suites come up rarely, and when they do, each one prices on its own size, layout and build quality rather than on a building average.

The fee structure is a real advantage. Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, building insurance, water and parking as included. Compared with newer Carlaw buildings where heat and parking are separate, a Wrigley fee that looks higher on paper can come out close once you add those costs back.

Because every suite is different, the most useful comparison is per square foot against recent hard-loft sales on Carlaw and in Riverdale, adjusted for condition. Ask me for the building sold report and I will show you how recent Wrigley trades line up against Garment Factory and i-Zone.

Building specifications

Amenities at Wrigley Lofts

Amenities are modest: a multi-purpose party and meeting room, a security system and, according to one source, an outdoor garden space. You buy here for the suite and the building, not for a gym or pool, and the lean amenity list is part of why so much is included in the fee.

Jatin’s honest take on Wrigley Lofts

Wrigley 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.