Gotham Lofts
A brick commercial building on King West built between 1903 and 1910, home to the Adams Brothers Harness Manufacturing Company and then garment makers into the 1980s. Converted in 1995 to 1997 by Paul Anisman's Canadian Equity and Development into one of Toronto's first loft buildings, now 54 units.
History of Gotham Lofts
The building is missing from the 1903 fire insurance map and is there on the 1910 one. Its best-known tenant was the Adams Brothers Harness Manufacturing Company, which had opened in Toronto in 1897; Star classified ads put the company here by 1918, and when Charles Adams died in 1931 his front-page obituary in the Toronto Daily Star named 781 King Street West as its home. A 1929 invoice shows Adams in two buildings, this one and a neighbour at 793 King that is long gone.
A year after Adams died, in 1932, an American appliance maker, Fitzgerald Manufacturing, leased space here for a factory. After the war the building turned to clothing: in the 1950s J.H. Barruch Ltd. made women's and children's clothes here under the Honeychild and Junior Fair labels, and the Star carried ads for sewing-machine operators at this address until the mid-1980s.
In 1995 the developer Paul Anisman, who had just built the Citysphere condominium at King and Niagara next door with a garage big enough for this building too, opened Gotham Lofts with 47 loft apartments, designed with a Chicago firm experienced in lofts. Prices started at $119,900 for 625 square feet. Expect exposed brick, wood posts and beams, wrought-iron spiral stairs up to the two-storey units and ceilings of about 9½ to 12 feet.
Stories you'll hear
“Built in 1917.” The fire insurance maps show it went up between 1903 and 1910.
Gotham Lofts: quick facts
Where is Gotham Lofts?
Gotham Lofts is at 781 King Street West, Toronto, in King West.
When was Gotham Lofts built, and what was it originally?
It dates from the 1900s. A brick commercial building on King West built between 1903 and 1910, home to the Adams Brothers Harness Manufacturing Company and then garment makers into the 1980s.
What kind of loft is Gotham Lofts?
Gotham Lofts is a hard loft: an older industrial or commercial building converted into homes, keeping features like brick, beams and big windows.
How many units are in Gotham Lofts?
Gotham Lofts has 54 units.
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