Tannery Lofts

History of Tannery Lofts

The site was first developed in 1910, when a single-storey tannery was built for Harry B. Johnston, who rented the land from Adam Beck. Beck was a manufacturer and politician from London, Ontario, whose company made cigar boxes; he became the driving force behind publicly owned electricity in Ontario and the first chair of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission, and was knighted in 1914.

In 1913 Beck opened a Toronto branch of his cigar-box company here, on what was then the extension of Wilton Avenue, now Dundas Street East, beside the Don River bridge. The plans were by John M. Lyle, the architect of Union Station and the Royal Alexandra Theatre, who also designed power stations for Ontario Hydro. Lyle's three-storey red brick building, trimmed in brick and cast stone, took in part of Johnston's tannery at the rear.

The City designated it a heritage building in 2005 as the Adam Beck Cigar Box Manufacturing Company Building. The Walsh Development Group, which also converted the old Gillette plant into Liberty Lofts, turned it into lofts in 2007, where two earlier developers had given up for lack of buyers. This time there were line-ups, and some buyers filled out contracts on cardboard boxes. The original floors have 13-foot wood ceilings, brick walls and posts and beams, and a brick-faced two-storey addition with terraces sits on top. Lofts run from about 440 to 1,300 square feet.

Stories you'll hear

“It was a soap factory” or “a tannery.” Neither: Lyle designed it for Beck's cigar-box company. The tannery was the smaller building behind it, and the plaque on the front says as much.