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There are nine ‘supertall’ developments — buildings 300 or more metres tall — that are either planned or under construction across Toronto. Whether residential or office (some with a mix of other uses), these projects represent the most ambitious additions to Toronto’s skyline, with heights and designs that will redefine its silhouette in the years ahead.
SkyTower at Pinnacle One Yonge
Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for Pinnacle International, Pinnacle One Yonge's first phase, the 65-storey, 217m Prestige Tower, is now complete, while the second phase, 106-storey SkyTower is under construction and has recently reached its 85th floor. Set to rise to 351.85m, SkyTower will become the tallest building in Canada, its vertical white stripes accentuating its height. Recent work has seen glazing rising ever higher on the curved elevations, with black RCS-G (Rail Climbing System) screens shielding the uppermost floors.
One Bloor West
Tridel’s One Bloor West, designed by Foster + Partners with Core Architects, also recently reached 85 storeys as it heads to its final height of 308.6m, making it Toronto’s first building to reach the ‘supertall’ threshold during construction. Its exterior is defined by eight prominent concrete megacolumns with diagonal brackets supporting six-floor groupings. Having recently passed the 300m mark, work is now underway on the crown that will enclose its tuned mass damper, with steel framing projecting above level 85. Cladding continues to advance behind the black-screened RCS.
19 Bloor West
Planned immediately west of One Bloor West on the southeast corner of Bloor and Balmuto streets, Reserve Properties and Westdale Properties’ 19 Bloor West would rise 99 storeys to 317.4m. Designed by Arcadis, the tower would join Toronto’s growing list of 'supertalls' if built. Toronto settled with the developers once the original proposal was revised to address City concerns over massing, floor-plate size, and separation distances. The image below includes One Bloor West shown as if it had been built to 94 storeys, instead of the 85 storeys it is being built to.
Concord Sky
Concord Adex’s Concord Sky, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates with architects—Alliance as Architect of Record, is set to rise 85 storeys and 300.2m, qualifying as a ‘supertall’ under the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s measurement from the site’s lowest publicly accessible entrance. The tower’s wedge-shaped massing will be covered in reflective-glass above a podium with some heritage walls, where the facades of the Gerrard Building and Richard S. Williams Block are retained and framed by the new glazing.
Forma
In the Entertainment District, the first and shorter of the twin-towered Forma development by Great Gulf, Dream Unlimited, and Westdale Properties, continues to take shape. Designed by Gehry Partners with Adamson Associates as Architect of Record, the east tower is not a supertall, heading for 73 storeys and 262.8m, recently reaching its 10th floor. The 84-storey west tower, not yet in sales nor under construction, is poised to rise to 308m, qualifying as a 'supertall'. A recent revised application for the West Tower proposes converting its podium levels from office to residential use, boosting its unit count from 1,170 to 1,404 suites.
Tower Three at Pinnacle One Yonge
Pinnacle International’s third tower at Pinnacle One Yonge, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, is now proposed to rise 95 storeys and 320.35m following a recent minor variance application. Part of the five-tower plan on Toronto’s waterfront, the variance seeks to add two residential floors and reconfigure part of the mechanical penthouse for amenity and mezzanine space, increasing ceiling heights on premium upper storey units to 3.25m. These changes maintain the tower’s approved massing and setbacks while raising its profile further into the 'supertall' category.
College Park Redevelopment
The College Park redevelopment, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects with heritage work by ERA Architects for GWL Realty Advisors, would add three towers with the tallest at 96 storeys hitting 333.3m and supertall status, above a restored and expanded 12-storey podium. The plan honours the 1930-built Art Moderne and Art Deco landmark at Yonge and College, revitalizes its heritage shopping arcade, and expands The Carlu event venue. Across 236,304m² of GFA, the project would deliver 2,334 new housing units, 24,861m² of office space, 21,380m² of retail, an 18,801m² hotel, cultural uses, and a daycare.
Union Park
Oxford Properties Group’s Union Park, which features three residential towers designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, plus a Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed supertall office tower, to reach 61 storeys and 303.33m on Front Street West. Union Park's recently revised plan replaced a shorter office tower with the third residential one, with 1,793 total rental units above retail, daycare, and two POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-accessible Spaces). It is not clear if the 138,675m² office tower will survive what may be a gradual redesign of the complex; with no set construction date, the project remains a long-term proposal that could advance once market conditions, including downtown office vacancy rates, improve.
191 Bay
QuadReal Property Group’s 191 Bay is a proposed 64-storey office tower reaching 301.74m to the roof and 374.15m to the top of its spire. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects with Adamson Associates as Architect of Record, the tower would replace the existing Commerce Court South and East buildings with 148,671m² of office space and 14,530m² of retail in a modern addition to Toronto’s Financial District skyline. Also having no set construction timeline, the project is another long-term prospect once the commercial office space market demands more space.
There are several other proposed and approved new office towers for Toronto, and while the rest don't hit supertall heights, it's possible that another possibly shorter office tower may go ahead in the coming years if the absorption rate of office space picks up and demands yet more new triple-A space. In the meantime, however, even with the condo market struggling now too, residential towers are poised to put Toronto's skyline into the supertall stratosphere.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on these developments, but in the meantime, you can learn more about them from our Database files, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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UrbanToronto has a research service,UTPro, that provides comprehensive data on development projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
