One Columbus Lofts

History of One Columbus Lofts

The factory was built in 1907 and 1908 for Winnett & Wellinger, leather-goods makers, designed by William Limbery Symons, better known for houses in Rosedale. The company, later Wellinger & Dunn Leather Sports Goods, made sporting equipment from baseball gloves to athletic supports, and its ghost sign is still at the top of the east wall.

It rented out space almost from the start, then numbered 350 Sorauren: to a dry-goods firm by 1912, the Reliance Shoe Company, which took the top floor in 1913, a stamping and die works, the maker of the patent medicine Warner's Safe Cure in 1922, and even Parker Pens in 1923. A 1973 photo still shows the Wellinger & Dunn name.

Jackson Goad Architects converted it in 1996, one of the last Toronto lofts sold as raw space: 2,400 square feet of brick and beam went for about $259,000. The 10 lofts run from about 1,500 to 2,400 square feet, with wood ceilings and beams, 10- to 14-foot ceilings, radiant-heated concrete floors and private elevator access; the old freight elevator shaft became balconies, the two penthouses have roof patios, and four units have private garages. The lower unit keeps the old 350 Sorauren address.

Stories you'll hear

“It was built in 1902 as a Rawlings baseball-glove factory.” Baseball gloves were probably made here, but by Winnett & Wellinger, not Rawlings, and the building dates from 1907–08.