The CN Tower's decades-long reign of offering Toronto's only publicly-accessible observation deck will soon come to an end.

A plan to add an art gallery and observation area to the upper floors of an already-well-under-construction skyscraper at Yonge and Bloor promises a new destination to view the city.

But first, some background.

Mizrahi Developments has been lobbying to increase the height of its project, The One, currently rising from the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor.

The developer was seeking an increase from its approved 85-storey height to a new 94-storey plan in an ongoing skyscraper height race with a rival project at the foot of Yonge Street.

A recent settlement offer with the City has met the developer in the middle, recommending approval for an increase to 92 storeys, but with a pretty significant condition.

Confidential instructions to staff from the City Solicitor were adopted by City Council at the end of May, accepting a without-prejudice offer to settle the ongoing height appeal being heard before the Ontario Land Tribunal.

This effectively approves The One to rise to a new height of 92 storeys, coming with an agreement to build a gallery space and observation deck under Section 37 of the Planning Act, which authorizes the City to adopt a community benefits charge on developers.

Those benefits would go towards converting space on or above the 79th floor into a gallery space operated by Artscape Atelier, hosting what planning documents describe as "public exhibitions showcasing the work of the resident artists, and allowing the public to enjoy the extraordinary views available from this exceptionally tall building."

A letter from Artscape included in the settlement offer clarifies that the developer is proposing to allocate half a floor, or about five residential units, for the gallery/observation space.

Not all of this space would be accessible to the public, and is to include furnished short-term rental units to be used by artists-in-residence. Mizrahi will maintain ownership of this area, consisting of one studio unit, two one-bedroom units and a pair of two-bedroom units.

The new vista point is not the only observation deck in the pipeline for Toronto, as the planned office tower in the works for 191 Bay Street includes an even taller outdoor platform that would be perched 267.7 metres above the Financial District.

Once both projects are realized, Toronto would have four functioning observation decks (and a few shuttered ones) in The One, 191 Bay, and the main pod and SkyPod observation levels of the CN Tower (which I'm being generous and counting as two separate viewpoints).