Handout
The listing: 90 Sumach St., Unit 709
Asking Price: $2.45 million
Taxes: $6,256
Monthly maintenance fee: $971
Agent: Erica Reddy, Royal LePage Signature Realty
The backstory
The unit is in a building built in 1956 as part of the CBC's foray into television.Handout
Leroy Wall was a financier working in the Cayman Islands in 2003 when he purchased a loft at 90 Sumach St. in Toronto, sight unseen.
Mr. Wall was already familiar with the converted warehouse in the Corktown neighbourhood because he had friends living in one of the live/work lofts. When he found out a unit had come up for sale, he acted quickly.
“I knew it faced west and I knew it was what I wanted,” Mr. Wall says. “I moved in with my suitcase from the Cayman Islands.”
Built in 1956, 90 Sumach St., was the backdrop for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s foray into the emerging medium of television. For decades, CBC used the seven-storey warehouse for studios, rehearsal space and storing props.
When it was converted to residential units in the 1990s, the red brick building was known as the Brewery Lofts, but in fact it had never been used for brewing beer. The name was the developer’s nod to the nearby Dominion Hotel and brewery, which had been a Corktown landmark since the Victorian era.
Three years after making the building his home, Mr. Wall learned that the owners of unit 709 were planning to sell. The penthouse in the southwest corner had expansive views and 1,845 square feet of interior space.
Mr. Wall struck a deal to buy the larger unit and moved to the top floor.
The loft today
The corner penthouse has 1,845 square feet of interior space and expansive views south and west.Handout
Another change came in 2011 when Mr. Wall’s partner, Ron Charles, moved in. By coincidence, Mr. Charles was a reporter for CBC News.
“I know so many people at CBC who worked in this building,” says Mr. Charles, who recently retired after more than two decades with the national broadcaster.
One manager started out making extension cords for the lighting department, he says, while others worked in scenery and wardrobe. One colleague told Mr. Charles he used to take puppets to the building to test their on-screen appeal for Fraggle Rock and other kids’ shows.
“This building had a great history in Canadian television,” Mr. Charles says.
The building's common areas celebrate its broadcasting heritage.Handout
Today the building has been rechristened The Lofts at 90 Sumach and its broadcast heritage is celebrated. A vintage studio light stands in the lobby and photographs from CBC Television’s pioneering days line the hallways.
“I love repurposed buildings,” says Mr. Charles, who also lived in a former mill in Montreal and a former department store warehouse in Toronto.
Unit 709 has an expansive living space that combines lounging, dining and an open kitchen under ceilings 14 feet high.
The loft unit's living space sits under 14-foot ceilings.Handout
Concrete pillars and floors are a reference to the building’s past, and steel I-beams were added to the ceiling to lend additional support to the rooftop terraces above.
There’s an interior area that can be used as a den or home office and an open staircase leads to the loft bedroom above.
From the bed, the view extends all the way to the CN Tower, Mr. Charles says.
The loft bedroom overlooks the open living space.Handout
In 2016, Mr. Wall and Mr. Charles decided to renovate the existing space.
They added a new modern kitchen by German manufacturer Bulthaup. Mr. Charles says the integrated appliances hidden behind anodized aluminum doors keep the space feeling uncluttered.
“I didn’t want to see a bunch of stainless steel from the living room,” he says.
Many of the kitchen appliances are integrated and hidden by aluminum doors.Handout
An appliance garage hides Mr. Charles’ coffee maker and Mr. Wall’s juicer.
Mr. Charles says both men cook and prepare their own specialties.
“I’m the recipe follower. The more elaborate, the more fun,” Mr. Charles says.
The kitchen also includes a built-in steam oven, which helps when preparing for a dinner party because it keeps dishes moist.
“I will never live without a steam oven now,” he says.
The kitchen is by German manufacturer Bulthaup.Handout
In the living area, the men added a frameless gas fireplace.
The building’s large elevator allowed them to bring in large pieces such as the fireplace, a 10-foot-long sofa and a stand-alone bathtub of crushed quartz.
“Thanks to the CBC, we still have a freight elevator,” Ms. Reddy says.
Mr. Wall and Mr. Charles also renovated the one large bathroom to make two bathrooms. One has the soaker tub and the other has a glass walk-in shower.
The quartz soaker tub was brought up using the building's large freight elevator.Handout
The unit’s floor-to-ceiling windows provide expansive vistas over the low-rise Corktown neighbourhood to the Toronto skyline beyond.
“I can never get tired of it, and it’s always changing,” Mr. Charles says. “You don’t get these views in a lot of places.”
A door in the living area opens to a balcony with a barbecue.
“We call that our winter barbeque,” Mr. Charles says. “We use that in the winter time when we don’t go upstairs.”
The best feature
By combining two private rooftop terraces, the unit has 1,300 square feet of outdoor space.Handout
Mr. Wall and Mr. Charles purchased one private rooftop terrace from another resident and added the adjacent one when it became available.
The combined 1,300 square feet of outdoor space in the southwest corner of the building provides room for an outdoor kitchen, a pergola and a lounging area.
There’s also a large space dedicated to Mr. Charles’s rooftop garden, where he grows tomatoes, herbs, strawberries and peppers in raised planter boxes.
The rooftop space includes an outdoor kitchen and a pergola.Handout
Mr. Wall and Mr. Charles brew their own hot sauce from Scotch bonnet peppers and hand out the bottles to their neighbours in the building. They also create a salad from vegetables grown on their roof and take it to the annual communal rooftop party.
Mr. Charles says most of the residents get to know each other at parties throughout the year.
“It’s a great community here,” he says.
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Carolyn Ireland