Downtown development on site of historic Ontario church rectory increased to 18 storeys

A high-rise condominium development to be built on the grounds of a historical church rectory in downtown Oshawa continues to reach higher into the sky before a shovel even reaches the ground, with local councillors being asked to approve a new plan for an 18-storey building at 39 Athol Street.

The Central Clear View Developments project started out as a 12-story tower in 2023 – a year after the 164-year-old Cowan House was torn down – and morphed into a 16-storey, 172-unit building when it was given the green light earlier this year.

With the Region of Durham announcing on May 13 that it is considering eliminating its Regional Revitalization program – an important funding source for the project – the developers have revised the numbers and have submitted new plans for an 18-storey, 204-unit rental apartment building.

The change would increase the project’s post-development assessed value from $115.5 million to $123.4 million and result in a bump in annual taxes paid to the city to more than $800,000.

The revised application will be before the city’s Economic and Development Services Committee meeting Monday, with staff recommending approval.

The elimination of the regional funding program was referred back to Durham Region staff until the fall and Central Clear View Development’s application will remain in the queue “in the event the program is not eliminated,” with Oshawa Council’s support.

Cowan House, pre-2023

The property is located on the southeast corner of Athol Street and Centre Street, right behind the St. George’s Anglican Church, which had a presence in the area since 1843 and unveiled a ‘new’ church on the site in 1922.

The Cowan House, built in 1858, served as the rectory for the church from 1924 to 1962 and its demolition in 2022 was met with considerable opposition in Oshawa, but with little appetite among councillors to preserve the house, the church emptied the home of its historical goodies and sold them at auction and eventually sold the property to the developer.

Cowan House, 2023

The demolition permit followed the next year, presenting what was then a 12-storey development proposal.

Oshawa Councillor Derek Giberson, whose ward takes in the property, was one of the few who voted to preserve the house. “I had hoped … the new owners would have been interested in some creative form of adaptive reuse within a development plan,” he said at the time. “We’re going to need to move away from these reactive situations with tight timelines and start proactively promoting interest in heritage properties if we want to see any serious uptake of building preservation in Oshawa.”

The 16-storey condominium project was approved for 101 one-bedroom units, 56 two-bedroom units and 15 three-bedroom apartments, with 1,500 sq. ft. of retail space on the ground floor. It is unknown the makeup of the new, 204-unit rental project proposal.