West 40 Lofts

History of West 40 Lofts

St. Mary the Virgin started in 1889 in a building by Langley & Burke a couple of blocks east, where St. Michael the Archangel Serbian Orthodox Church now stands. In 1912 the parish sold that land and bought a site on Westmoreland, just north of Bloor. The cornerstone was laid in 1913, the first service was held in the basement in 1914, and the church was finished that December. It later took the name St. Mary the Virgin and St. Cyprian.

The church was on the City's very first heritage inventory in 1973. It was deconsecrated in 2002 and sold for conversion, and then it waited. A 2003 launch as the Westmoreland Lofts fizzled; the Lux Group and the architect Ferdinand Wagner tried again in 2006 but stalled over heritage repairs and planning issues; a heritage easement was registered in 2006; and in late 2009 the bank sold the building, plans and permits after it was repossessed.

George Betak of Dog Day Developers and the architect Asen Vitko, who had worked on heritage buildings in Europe, finally finished it around 2011 and 2012. The 17 lofts, of three and four levels, keep the Gothic brick arches, stone columns, stained glass and massive hammer-beam trusses, with catwalks across the old nave; ceilings top 20 feet, and one unit reaches 33.