Toronto’s historic row of pawn shops at Queen and Church could soon be redeveloped into an enormous condo tower.
A long-planned redevelopment of the pawn shops along Church St., north of Queen, is back on the table after a previously approved vision was invalidated and sent back to the drawing board.Â
The result? An even taller tower.
Developer Pemberton Group is pressing forward with its plan to redevelop 137-149 Church St. and 18-20 Dalhousie St. with a 61-storey condo tower featuring a design from Graziani + Corazza Architects.
The site in question has, for generations, been home to a row of pawn shops —  most notably the former McTamney’s (since relocated) and the still-operating H. Williams & Co.
An earlier proposal had been approved for the site in 2022 via an Ontario Land Tribunal settlement. However, a 2024 provincial Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) that expanded an air ambulance flight path for St Michael’s Hospital imposed new height restrictions on the site, essentially undoing this approval and forcing a shortened redesign.
In response to the flight path MZO, the project team revised the proposal with the guidance of City staff, ultimately resulting in the updated plan tabled to planners in mid-March.
It’s just the latest in a series of revisions dating back approximately eight years. A 49-storey tower was first proposed for the site back in 2018, later upped to 54 floors with a massing designed to accommodate the previous flight path.
The 2026 plan lowers the podium height and positioning to accommodate the new flight path, while the tower increases from the previously approved 54 floors up to 61, with almost 26 metres in added height, bringing the plan up to almost 201 metres tall.
With this added height comes additional residential space, accommodating an additional 29 units, bringing the suite count up from 440 to 469.
The height increase adds more verticality to a block already primed for some serious height, thanks to the under-construction QueenChurch project immediately to the south, which will soon soar 57 storeys above the intersection for which it is named.
While the block’s history as the centre of the local pawn shop industry is coming to a close, the architectural heritage of the block is set to be preserved through the retention of heritage-designated building facades along Church and Dalhousie streets.
The updated proposal comes amid a rocky time for Toronto’s condo market, and only time will tell if this tower ever takes off in its current form.
Photos by
Graziani + Corazza Architects