It’s been over two years since plans to adaptively reuse one of Toronto's oldest purpose-built postal offices were submitted to the City. Two refusals, three revisions, and an Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearing later, the project finally has the go-ahead it sought back in November 2023.
The plans for 1117 Queen Street West have remained relatively true to the applicant’s original vision: a 29-storey condo tower integrated into a former Canada Post building, known as the Postal Station C. Featuring Beaux-Arts architecture and designed by Samuel George Curry in 1902, the building has been listed on the City Heritage Register since June 1973.
Canada Post ceased operations at the site in 2020. Ownership of the property was transferred to the current owner and applicant, Queen Street Post Inc., in 2021.
According to an OLT case file dated January 30, 2026, the proposal now contemplates a total gross floor area (GFA) of 18,615 sq. m (up 17,383 sq. m in the November 2023 application), which includes 17,683 sq. m of residential GFA (up from 16,464 sq. m) and 932 sq. m of non-residential GFA (up from 918 sq. m). The unit count has been brought down from 272 units to 261.
Though the application was revised three times, the general conservation strategy for the Postal Station C has not changed, the OLT notes. “The Heritage Building facades will remain in situ and the tower will extrude from the rear building elevation. All conservation measures described, including reinstatement of openings and alterations for accessibility remain part of the May, 2025 permit requests.”
Elevation renderings from February 2025/Giannone Petricone Associates
Ground floor rendering from February 2025/Giannone Petricone Associates
Tribunal throws out City’s request to dismiss
City staff have been opposed to the proposed development from the outset. In January 2024, Interim Chief Planner Kerri Voumvakis implored City Council to refuse the development, citing concerns about the conservation of the Postal C Building’s heritage value. She also questioned how appropriate 29 storeys would be in the context of the West Queen West Triangle, which is characterized by a mix of low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings no higher than 22 storeys.
Per Voumvakis’ recommendation, Council refused the Official Plan Amendment (OPA) and Zoning By-law Amendment (ZBA) applications at its February 2024 session. In May 2024, Council also refused a Heritage Alteration Permit and Demolition Permit that would allow for a series of alterations to the Postal Station C. Those included the demolition of the two symmetrically arranged brick chimneys on the south elevation, alterations to the east and south elevations for new doorways, and the removal of all interior building fabric, including existing ground floorplate.
These refusals led Queen Street Post Inc. to file four different appeals between February 2024 and June 2024.
However, the OLT case file from January reveals that the City’s real qualm with the proposal comes back to its height — 102 metres in the initial submission, and 98 metres in the most recent revision. The City asserts that the proposed height undermines its Queen Street West Planning Study, represents overdevelopment rather than optimization of the area’s infrastructure, and “fails to enhance QSW’s sense of place and character.”
Though the City requested the OLT to dismiss Queen Street Post Inc.’s appeals at December 2025 hearing, the Tribunal came to the opposite conclusion, describing the proposal as demonstrating “good land use planning” that’s in the public interest. Both the OPA and ZBA applications have been approved in principle.
