Iconic Toronto Star building to be transformed into new hotel

The former Toronto Star building at 1 Yonge St. has been spared from demolition, at least for now.

The 1970-built office tower that has been without an anchor tenant for three years will be converted into a hotel as part of a transformative redevelopment currently taking over the skyline.

Developer Pinnacle International announced on Monday that it had filed plans with the City of Toronto to convert the 25-storey office tower into a hotel, with 468 guest rooms, a new grand lobby, and a ballroom.

The Toronto Star building was home to its namesake newspaper for 50 years, vacating in 2022 for new digs a few kilometres to the west at The Well.

Pinnacle notes that a designer and hotel operator have not yet been selected, but intends to "bring the building's existing character into dialogue with the new Pinnacle One Yonge towers."

Previously targeted for demolition — with permits even filed ahead of its widely-anticipated teardown — the building is now targeted for a major retrofit that would spare its Brutalist-style architecture and weave the landmark into the master-planned multi-tower community already emerging from the complex's former parking area.

The Pinnacle One Yonge development will soon claim the title of Canada's tallest building with the enormous 106-storey SkyTower now closing in on its final height at the north end of the Toronto Star lands.

That tower is already destined to include a hospitality project, with Le Meridien Toronto Pinnacle Hotel set to open within the SkyTower in 2026.

Anson Kwok, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Pinnacle International, says that the reception to Le Meridien shaped this pivot, saying that "What solidified the decision to explore hospitality use for the office building was the great response to having a hotel at Pinnacle SkyTower."

"There's broad interest and momentum within the waterfront community and stakeholders to embrace Toronto as a waterfront city, which requires more hotels to support its growth into a tourist destination," said Kwok, noting that "the building already has the bones, address, and recognizability to become an iconic hospitality destination." 

The pivot to hotel may have spared the hotel in the near-term, but Pinnacle noted that further redevelopment of the longstanding landmark remains a long-term possibility.

Changes in demand for office space in Toronto have led the City to ease mandatory office replacement requirements for new developments. This change has led to a surge in office conversion projects, such as what Pinnacle has proposed for the One Yonge site.

"We've looked at the possibility of adapting the office building for hospitality since acquiring the One Yonge site," says Kwok, noting that Pinnacle approaches these projects by plotting out multiple future pathways for sites.

"This ensures that through the years-long development process and with all the changes happening in the world, we can deliver projects that are the right fit in a growing community," says Kwok.

The move indeed comes just weeks after Pinnacle submitted plans to redevelop this very building with a high-flying residential complex that would be home to some of the tallest towers in the country.