A busy Toronto pub could soon gain a towering new neighbour, the latest landmark addition planned for an emerging canyon of residential towers flanking Isabella Street.

Plans are in the works to bring a 67-storey residential tower with roughly 700 units to the site of 164 through 168 Isabella Street, a site that is home to a pair of heritage homes dating back to the late 1800s, and is immediately adjacent to Gabby's Isabella Hotel location.

The property in question was purchased in mid-2023 by Elysium Investments, a joint venture consisting of some big names in real estate, land development and investment.

The team has revealed plans to submit a development application for the site that would preserve the heritage-listed 1887-1888-built John Holderness House (164 Isabella) and Henry J. Larkin House (166 Isabella), as well as the heritage-designated J. Bedford House at 168 Isabella, also constructed in 1887.

Plans call for the homes to be repurposed as the base of a new Studio JCI-designed tower soaring 67 storeys into the local skyline. The historic homes would act as a new residential lobby and amenity space, according to details shared in a recent article published by Real Estate News Exchange.

The tower's design features a unique interaction with the preserved heritage elements below. A reverse stepping will see the tower's floorplate sizes increase gradually as it rises from the heritage base, an effect mirrored in the transition between cladding types on the building's east and west faces.

Only renderings showing the tower base have been shared on a website for the project, and the upper portions remain a mystery for the time being.

Also revealed in the Renx report is the planned lack of vehicle parking, with the proposal to instead rely entirely on bicycle parking and the nearby Sherbourne subway station just a few hundred metres to the north for residents' commuting needs.

As of early April, no application had been tabled with the City, and the developers have noted that they have not yet settled on the choice between condo and purpose-built rental.

The project is just the latest in a string of proposals that would transform Isabella Street into a dense canyon of high-rises.

Current proposals in the works on this stretch include a pair of 69-storey condo developments for side-by-side sites at 135 Isabella and 137-141 Isabella, and another pair of towers planned to rise 62 and 69 storeys at 88 Isabella and 90 Isabella.