Huge Toronto skyscraper plan is back from the dead after years on hold

A huge office tower plan that has been on the back burner for years might soon become one of the most prominent buildings on the Toronto skyline.

Oxford Properties Group first proposed a redevelopment of the Toronto Harbour Commission Building — home to Harbour Sixty Steakhouse — and surrounding surface parking at Bay and Harbour streets back in 2018, submitting plans for a high-flying office tower branded as The HUB.

The project made a splash with a design from U.K.-based architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, working with local firm Adamson Associates Architects that was refined in the following years. 

However, plans for the flagship 1.4-million-square-foot commercial tower project at 30 Bay Street fell silent after a decline in office demand in 2020, and the future of this office tower was left in serious doubt as vacancy rates soared in the downtown core.

While much of the office market still has a ways to go to recover from pre-2020 levels, demand for AAA-class office space is improving, bringing major projects like The HUB back into the discussion.

And this skyline-altering project might become a reality in the very near future, based on a telling statement from an Oxford executive.

John Peets, Senior Vice President of Development Leasing at Oxford Properties Group, shared a LinkedIn post on Tuesday where he all but confirmed that the tower was not only back in the development pipeline, but could be online by as soon as 2030.

"Visionary CEOs - thinking ahead, as AAA space in downtown Toronto gets tighter than it already is (<6 per cent available), my advice to you is renew your lease for 5 years. By doing so your timing will be perfect for the delivery of the HUB at 30 Bay Street."

Peets had earlier hinted that the company was "shovel ready at the HUB," but this latest statement seems to indicate that an anchor tenant is either already signed or within reach, and that a construction announcement is forthcoming.

The HUB is set to rise 59 storeys to a height of over 258 metres (commercial office floors are much higher than your standard condo ceiling heights). 

While this roof height would be enough to rank as the sixth-tallest building in Toronto if completed today, the tower's rooftop spire extends that height significantly to 304 metres, which is taller than any existing building in Canada as of early 2025.

That spire would serve as a punctuation mark to the city's skyline, adding a needle-like point to postcard views from the lake. 

The seemingly imminent revival of The HUB follows renewed plans for the nearby Union Park development, which similarly idled for years before an updated proposal was tabled in late 2024.