A Toronto office building that has held a prominent position on the skyline since it was constructed 53 years ago will soon be reduced to rubble.

It appears the Toronto Star building's end is imminent, as plans have been filed to tear down the existing office tower as part of a megaproject unfolding at the foot of Yonge Street.

A permit application was accepted on December 4 regarding the "proposed demolition of [the] 25-storey Toronto Star Building," that, if granted, would seal the current tower's fate.

The sprawling One Yonge site, including an office tower and surrounding parking, was purchased by Vancouver-based developer Pinnacle International for a reported quarter-billion-dollar sum back in 2012.

Pinnacle has since begun to build out the site, completing the complex's 65-storey first phase in 2023, while the second phase, 105-storey SkyTower, is now rising toward a record-breaking height of over 345 metres — taller than any other building in Canada.

105-storey megatower rising in Toronto will soon be Canada's tallest buildinghttps://t.co/wo9hlusGUS

— blogTO (@blogTO) August 22, 2024

Even more buildings were planned in the massive development, including an enormous condo tower and a commercial complex that retained and expanded the current Toronto Star Building.

Construction for Canada's new tallest building is about to break records in Toronto https://t.co/jllrm9zWTW

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 6, 2024

However, those plans have since changed, and Pinnacle has been quietly advancing a new plan that would bring 90- and 95-storey towers to the site and see the 1971-built office tower that's there today completely demolished.

The added residential tower comes following the scrapping of the large commercial component amid waning office demand and recent changes to City rules forbidding the redevelopment of commercial space without replacement.

Iconic rooftop signage was removed from the tower in late December 2022 following the newspaper's relocation to new digs at The Well's award-winning office tower. While the existing Brutalist tower has not hosted The Star for approximately two years, the tower's name persists.

It's the end of an era as Toronto Star sign removed from 1 Yonge St. building https://t.co/p2VxIH3mj1 #Toronto #TorontoStar

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 14, 2022

Details about the new tower remain murky as of December 2024, as no updated planning applications have been filed with the City. However, the new demolition permit filing suggests that Pinnacle is, at the very least, ready to begin the process of levelling the site for these future developments.

Pinnacle circulated plans with the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto's Design Review Panels back in April, though minutes from these sessions have been kept under wraps.

Though members of the public have not been given access to the latest plans, The Globe and Mail reported in June that it had obtained renderings and confirmation of the then-current plans for 90- and 95-storey towers.

Like the project details, the demolition plan here is also somewhat murky. The application is the only public-facing information on the plans discussed behind closed doors eight months prior.

blogTO has reached out to Anson Kwok, vice-president of sales and marketing at Pinnacle International Realty Group, seeking more information about the proposed demolition timeline.