Toronto office tower to be torn down after almost 70 years

A Toronto office building that has stood on Yonge Street for generations will soon be demolished.

The 12-storey commercial building has stood at the corner of Yonge and Colborne streets for almost seven decades, though it is currently slated for demolition to make way for an ambitious new tower.

The existing office block at 55 Yonge Street features a modernist design commonly associated with Peter Dickinson (1925–1961), a prolific British-Canadian architect known for developing a portfolio of impressive modernist structures in his brief career before his untimely passing in 1961 from stomach cancer at the young age of 35.

While Dickinson is commonly believed to have designed the current office building on this site, which was completed in 1958 on what was then a rapidly developing stretch of Yonge Street, this is not technically the case.

According to a heritage impact assessment, "55 Yonge Street technically reflects the work of Peter Dickinson while employed at the firm of Page & Steele," but "it is not considered a representative example or reflection of his work, nor is it featured prominently within his portfolio."

"As such, neither 53 nor 55 Yonge Street merit individual designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act."

The office building has stood largely unchanged for 67 years, though its time is almost up.

Permits applying for a "complete demolition to ground level" were filed in mid-2024, specifying that all the building's exterior foundation walls will remain in place.

The current building is proposed for teardown to make way for a new 68-storey condo tower from developer H&R REIT.

First proposed in 2021, the 55 Yonge project features a standout design from architects PARTISANS and BDP Quadrangle that would stand almost 233 metres tall.

The plan was most recently resubmitted to the City's planning department last fall with an updated scheme that scrapped previously-proposed office space in favour of additional residential space.

2024 plan for 55 Yonge Street. Partisans/BDP Quadrangle

Renderings show off a bold addition to the city's skyline, though this progress would come at the cost of another piece of Toronto's dwindling portfolio of remaining modernist structures.

A previous version of this article attributed the building's design to Peter Dickinson. We apologize for this error.