Commerce Court redevelopment

Soaring new office tower and atrium coming to Toronto

Another skyscraper is in the works for downtown Toronto, and this one's a big boy.

At 64 storeys and almost 300 metres, the proposed Commerce Court development would add approximately 168,000 square metres of office space to the city's Financial District and be as tall as First Canadian Place. 

If built to specification, the two buildings would actually tie for Toronto's tallest office building (not to be confused with Toronto's tallest condo building).

Commerce Court development

Renderings of the proposed reworking of Toronto's Commerce Court complex by Hariri Pontarini Architects, designed with DIALOG, for QuadReal. Image via City of Toronto.

QuadReal Property Group submitted a zoning by-law amendment application late last month asking the city for permission to "re-imagine" and "transform" the historic property at the southeast corner of King and Bay Streets.

Documents submitted to the city show that QuadReal wants to demolish two of the five existing buildings at Commerce Court and build an addition to the Hotel Victoria building at 56 Yonge Street.

The historic and stately Commerce Court North building, built during the Great Depression in 1931 and now one of Toronto's only Art Deco towers, will obviously remain in place.

So too will be the 57 storey Commerce Court West, which was designed by I.M. Pei and erected in 1972 as one of Toronto's first modern office towers after the TD Centre.

Commerce Court building 2

Renderings of the proposed reworking of Toronto's Commerce Court complex by Hariri Pontarini Architects, designed with DIALOG, for QuadReal. Image via City of Toronto.

When all is said and done, Toronto will have a brand new, 298.14-metre-tall, mixed-use office and retail building.

Renderings by Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects and the design firm DIALOG show a stunning atrium at the tower's base, completely transparent and filled with light both day and night.

The pedestrian plaza will be rebuilt with a landscape plan by Claude Cormier & Associés, according to Urban Toronto, which aims to "better integrate the new buildings with their surroundings while honouring I.M. Pei's vision for the square."

This one could be a game-changer for the Financial District. 

Lead photo by

Hariri Pontarini Architects / DIALOG / City of Toronto


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line

There's a brand-new $26M TTC subway station entrance in a popular Toronto park

Ontario's largest snake grows up to 2 metres and squeezes prey to death

Ontario is home to world's oldest pool of water at a staggering 2 billion years old

Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

Toronto somehow isn't home to Ontario's jankiest LRT

A Toronto transit project is actually going to finish early for once

People worried about Ontario police's plan to use facial recognition software