The 13 acres (5.3 ha) district comprises more than forty heritage buildings and ten streets, and is the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America.

Once providing over 2 million US gallons (7,600,000 L) of whisky, mostly for export on the world market, the company was bought out in later years by rival Hiram Walker Co., another large Canadian distiller.

Its location on the side of the Canadian National Railway mainline and its proximity to the mouth of the original route of the Don River outlet into Lake Ontario created a hard edge which separated the district from neighbouring communities.

These did, however, allow for a facilitated transport connection to the rest of Canada and the world and acted as Toronto's domination as an industrial centre or transshipping hub.

With the deindustrialization of the surrounding area in the late 20th century, and the winding-down of the distillery operations, the district was left increasingly derelict.

Nonetheless, the closing of the remaining distillery operations in 1990 created redevelopment and investment opportunities for a district that contained the largest and best preserved collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America.

The economic recession of the early 1990s, however, and the resulting crash in residential condominium prices and office lease rates in downtown Toronto, delayed efforts to revitalize the district.

New condominium developments will be located at the south-east corner of the neighbourhood, bordering on Cherry Street and Tank House Lane.

[6] The Pan American Games' Athletes' Village was built in the area in 2015, in conjunction with an extension to the streetcar network constructed along Cherry Street.

There are informal public spaces on the pedestrianized streets with chairs and tables for general use, as well as formal patios for some of its coffee houses and restaurants.

The Distillery District can be reached via the Toronto Transit Commission's 121 Fort York-Esplanade bus route, and since June 2016 the 514 Cherry streetcar line has its eastern terminus at the Distillery Loop to the east of the historic district, providing service along King Street through the downtown core as far west as Dufferin Gate Loop in Liberty Village.

In order to provide additional details regarding the breakdown of the types of mixed uses in the area, the King-Parliament Secondary Plan is used to determine the locations of the commercial, residential, and other land uses.