Toronto's cube house needs a new home, after site sold to developers

The land on which Toronto's quirky cube house sits may have been sold, but the fate of the structure itself remains unclear.

Real estate professional Taso Boussoulas and developer Jeff Craig purchased the property in May for $2,750,000, and have plans to redevelop the site. While the 8,700-square-foot parcel of land at Sumach Street and Eastern Avenue is designated as mixed-use, Boussoulas said, no plans have been finalized for what will come next.

Boussoulas said they are "nowhere near" asking tenants to leave the building, given that it could be a couple of years before development moves forward. Part of the unique building is home to CBC News video producer Martin Trainor, whose unit comes complete with office space, one-and-a-half bedrooms, a kitchen and bathroom.

Before anything new can be built on the land, the cubes have to be moved. And that's turning into a point of contention.

The land's new owners are not looking to dismantle or destroy the cubes, and are considering a few options for moving them. These include donating them to the city, selling them or auctioning them off for charity.

"I'm hoping they don't end up in a scrap yard," Boussoulas told CBC Toronto Monday in a telephone interview.

Numerous charities and other interested parties have been in touch inquiring about the cubes' future, Boussoulas sai

'No right to sell'

The structure was built in 1996 by designer Ben Kutner and his partner Jeff Brown. It was inspired by Dutch architect Piet Blom's cube houses, built in in Rotterdam in the 1980s.

Kutner, now working in Ottawa, said Monday he still retains ownership of the cubes and he will determine what happens to them.

"They have absolutely no right to sell the cubes," he told CBC Toronto on the phone from Ottawa.

He wants to follow through on his original plan for the cubes, which were set to be part of a larger community on Eastern Avenue. He said he has reached out to Craig and hopes to "move forward positively" with plans to move them.

Boussoulas said Kutner's name did not come up on title when the land purchase was finalized, but said: "If he believes he owns them, he can have them."

Kutner said he hopes both sides can come to an agreement on a plan for the cubes.

"We are very positive to work with them to save it," he said.