Pier 27 Phase 2, 29 Queens Quay E: Waterfront Living Under the Bridge

Pier 27 is the waterfront project I show buyers who want to see the lake, not just glimpse it. The second phase at 29 Queens Quay East is a pair of mid-rise buildings on the water’s edge, joined at the top by a three-storey bridge that echoes the cargo gantries that once worked this harbour. It is one of the most distinctive pieces of architecture on Queens Quay, and its price per foot shows it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A tower laid on its side

The first phases of Pier 27 are four rectangular buildings on the water, arranged in two pairs. Each pair is joined across its top floors by a three-storey cantilevered bridge, which architectsAlliance says was meant to recall the gantries that loaded freighters in Toronto Harbour. This building is one of those pairs: 11 storeys of pier building with the bridge on top, which is why condos.ca lists 14 floors.

Toronto Star critic Christopher Hume, quoted by the architects, described the idea as a tower laid on its side. Instead of one tall building, the density is spread low and long along the water, so many more suites get a real lake view. The pier buildings also twist slightly off their north-south line on the upper floors to open up those views, and every suite in the bridge looks at the lake or the city.

The project won a 2019 Ontario Concrete Award for material development and innovation. It is a building you will either love or find odd, and that is worth knowing before you fall for a listing photo.

Phase 1 at 39 Queens Quay East is the other pair, part of the same design and registered as its own corporation, TSCC-2491. The two phases look almost identical from the water, but each has its own budget, reserve fund and board. When you compare a suite here with one next door, compare the two corporations’ finances as well as the suites, because that is where buildings that look the same can differ most.

A public edge on three sides

Pier 27 was approved with a land swap with the City that keeps the water’s edge public along the site’s west and south sides. UrbanToronto reported about three acres of landscaped boardwalk and parkland around the development. In practice, people walk, run and cycle past your building every day.

That is the honest trade-off of waterfront living here. You get the lake, the islands and the sunsets, but lower suites facing the promenade are not private, and summer weekends are busy. Upper suites and the bridge levels get the views without the foot traffic.

The 35-storey Tower at Pier 27, the third phase, now stands on Queens Quay just to the north. Because these buildings sit right on the lake, their south views toward the harbour and islands are protected in a way most downtown views are not.

Suites from compact to very large

Condos.ca lists suites from about 414 sq ft up to about 4,474 sq ft, which is a wider spread than almost any tower. The upper and bridge suites include some of the largest plans on the waterfront, with big terraces, while the lower floors hold one-bedroom and one-plus-den plans.

Current listings lean to two-bedroom and two-plus-den plans, which tells you who this building attracts: downsizers and professionals who want space and a lake view, rather than investors buying studios. Large suites in a 305-suite building do not come up often, so be ready to move when the right plan does.

Ask which way a suite faces. A south or east suite on the bridge level has a very different view and price from a north suite looking back at Queens Quay and the city.

The foot of Yonge, and what is coming

You are at the bottom of Yonge Street, with Sugar Beach, the Redpath refinery and Corus Quay to the east and the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbourfront to the west. Union Station and the Financial District are a walk north under the Gardiner. The automatic panel shows transit and walkability details.

The biggest change ahead is transit. The City’s Waterfront East light rail line is planned to run from Union Station south under Bay Street and east along Queens Quay, and in April 2026 Council directed staff to proceed with early works this year. That should improve transit along this stretch, but expect construction on Queens Quay East for some time.

The eastern waterfront beyond Sugar Beach is still filling in, with new neighbourhoods planned toward the Port Lands. For owners here, that means more shops, parks and neighbours over the next decade, and more competing new suites when you sell.

What Pier 27 Phase 2 costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,010 per square foot. That is a premium over many downtown towers and reflects how few buildings sit directly on the water with protected south views. It is close to its siblings: Phase 1 at 39 Queens Quay East averages about $1,032 and the Tower at Pier 27 about $1,046.

Current asking prices for two-bedroom and two-plus-den plans run from about $1.15 million to about $2.39 million, depending mostly on size, floor and whether the suite faces the lake. Those are asking prices, not sales.

Asking fees on current listings run from about $716 to about $1,708 a month. Condos.ca lists parking, heat, air conditioning, water and insurance as included, which is a fuller list than most newer towers, so compare total monthly cost rather than the headline fee. For a value check on a specific suite, I can run my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Pier 27 Phase 2

Condos.ca lists an indoor pool and sauna, a media room, a meeting room, a concierge and visitor parking, and barbecues are permitted. For a lakefront building, the pool is a welcome year-round alternative to the lake, but it is also one of the larger long-term costs a 305-suite corporation carries.

Jatin’s honest take on Pier 27 Phase 2

Pier 27 Phase 2 — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.