Proposal Beside St. Michael’s Hospital Upped To 61 Storeys

It’s been almost eight years since Pemberton Group filed plans for 139-149 Church Street and 18-20 Dalhousie Street, which is a stone’s throw from St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto.

Given the proximity, redevelopment is a tall order — the plans must be sympathetic to the City’s housing needs and the evolving tall building context of the area, without obstructing the hospital’s helicopter flight path.

The latest Zoning By-law Amendment application for the site was submitted to the City last month for a 61-storey mixed-use building with 469 condo units and four ground-floor retail units along Church Street.

Renderings prepared by Graziani + Corazza Architects show the development with a two-storey street wall, six-storey podium along the southern portion of the site, and a large step-backed element above the 24th floor along the tower’s north facade to accommodate the hospital’s airspace.

Over eight years, Pemberton’s plans have evolved through four resubmissions. The original proposal from June 2018 was for a 49-storey mixed-use building with a 28-storey step back. By May 2020, the developer had picked up 137 Church Street, and filed a revised application contemplating a 54-storey tower instead.

Because of the trickiness surrounding how the building might encroach on St. Michael's airspace, Pemberton continued to revise the proposal twice more, even after appealing it to the Ontario Land tribunal in September 2021 over the City’s lack of decision.

Finally, the OLT approved a settlement in in August 2022 for a 54-storey mixed-use building with a 27-storey step back that was acceptable to the hospital’s airspace regulations at that time. The development was also set to accommodate around 3,014 sq. ft of retail gross floor area (GFA), 345,522 sq. ft of residential GFA, and 440 condo units.

Tower perspective looking west/Graziani + Corazza Architects

The August 2022 approval was ultimately jeopardized in January 2024, when the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing issued a Minister's Zoning Order (MZO) modifying the St. Michael’s Hospital flight path in a way that conflicted with a portion of the approved 54-storey tower.

In response, and as reflected in the March 2026 application, Pemberton introduced the step-back element at the 24th floor, and also reduced the tower floorplates from 7,675 sq. ft in levels nine through 24, to around 5,027 sq. ft above the 24th floor. The floorplates being more narrow and irregular in form is to ensure “the building remains outside the flight path while maintaining appropriate construction and maintenance clearances,” according to the planning report that went to city staff last month.

Even with the recent round of changes, the GFAs — residential, retail, and total — have all remained the same from the 54-storey tower approved by the OLT in 2022.

The planning report also points out that, since the OLT approval in 2022, “the development context in the area now includes approved heights of up to 72 storeys and existing heights of up to 52 storeys” — so the 61-storey tower being proposed by Pemberton would fit right in.

The current development context of the area includes a 57-storey building under construction at 60-64 Queen Street and 131- 135 Church Street, and an approved 59-storey building at 83-89 Queen Street East and 119-127 Church Street.

Development Projects

Pemberton Group Ups Height On Church Street Proposal (Again), To 61 Storeys

With St. Michael's Hospital a stone’s throw away, redevelopment plans have to be sympathetic to the hospital’s helicopter flight path.

Site Statistics, As Of March 2026

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