The York Apartments have anchored the northwest corner of Bloor Street West and Spadina Road for over a century and are representative of the early development of apartment buildings in Toronto. Designed by Redmond & Beggs in 1912 and completed by late 1913, the York Apartments are an excellent example of a pre-World War I apartment building containing ground floor commercial space.  Interestingly, the ground floor commercial space is atypical for apartment buildings dating to this early period and unique within Redmond and Beggs' portfolio of purpose-built apartment buildings. 

 

Redmond & Beggs were a short-lived yet eminent architectural firm who designed some of Toronto's earliest apartment buildings and movie theatres. Other examples of Redmond & Beggs apartment buildings — such as the Ernescliffe Apartments in Saint James Town, the Wellsboro Apartments on Jarvis Street in the Church-Wellesley Village, and the Kingsley Mansions in Parkdale — are renown and have been featured in numerous architectural and historical publications. 


The York Apartments have associative value through their connection to Dr. Charles Best, who resided in a third floor unit in 1924-1925 (one year after his discovery of insulin and in proximity to the Spadina Avenue building where insulin was manufactured between 1923 and 1927). Dr. Best is presently commemorated with a heritage plaque in front of the building. 

  

Later, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the York Apartments survived the Spadina Expressway proposal, which would have seen the building demolished to construct an interchange and underpass. The Spadina Expressway project was cancelled in 1971. Community opposition against the proposed expressway is commemorated with a series of heritage plaques at the southeast corner of Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue. 

(Research by Adam Wynne)

• Architect - Redmond and Beggs  <-- More buildings by this architect.