The historic Postal Station C on Queen Street West will live on within the base of a striking new condominium tower unlike anything else on the Toronto skyline.

The former Canada Post building at 1117 Queen St. W. — constructed in 1902 in the Beaux Arts style — was posted for sale in 2021, news that was met with immediate pushback from the surrounding community seeking to ensure the landmark's preservation.

Historic Toronto post office sold to company with zero plans and the community is livid https://t.co/WawQPfLyF3 #Toronto #PostOffice

— blogTO (@blogTO) January 13, 2022

Details of the sale remain unavailable to the public, though a new application for the postal station site was tabled with city planners in October 2023, revealing the developer as Queen Street Post Inc.— a company which, curiously, applied using a contact linking back to a meat packing facility near Weston and St. Clair.

While these condos might not be vegan, the developer has proposed a particularly bold vision for a 29-storey tower designed by architects Giannone Petricone Associates, incorporating the old post office under the care of heritage specialists ERA Architects.

A heritage retention plan calls for the development to preserve and restore the existing north, west, and east walls of the post office, as well as portions of the south wall, maintaining the 12-decade-old landmark's architectural character.

Locals will be pleased to learn that the postal building space will live on as a new community amenity, dedicating over 900 square metres as "city community space."

A massive tower rising just over 102 metres would be cantilevered above the preserved heritage component via enormous angled concrete columns, forming a dramatic space at the tower base facing Lisgar Park to the south.

The drama extends up the tower facades, which feature a sculpted curve wrapping around the north and west sides of the building, dotted by a pattern of punched windows.

In contrast, the south and east elevations would feature a more traditional rectilinear look.

The plan would add 272 condominium units across approximately 16,465 square metres of space, accounting for 94.7 per cent of the total building area.

Residents would have access to a spectacular rooftop amenity defined in plans as a "winter garden" that will feature outdoor trees and panoramic skyline views to the south and east.

Another positive note for locals who fought this project from the outset is the fact that not a single parking space is proposed within the development, relying instead on local transit service and a single underground level housing over 300 bicycle parking spaces.

As bold as the proposal is, it may not be the wildest thing ever pitched for this site.

In 2021, architect Paul Raff shared his vision for the site with blogTO, contemplating a head-turning plan to mirror and invert the post office's form with modern materials above the existing edifice.