Pier 27 Phase III, 15 Queens Quay E: The Shifted-Balcony Tower

The Tower at Pier 27 is the building with the balconies that look like a stack of pulled-out drawers, standing beside the Yonge Street Slip at the water’s edge. It is the third and tallest piece of Cityzen and Fernbrook’s Pier 27 community, and on Condos.ca it carries the highest average price per square foot of the three. The question is whether you are paying for the waterfront or for the architecture, and the answer is both. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A tower designed to stand out from its neighbours

Most Toronto towers are glass boxes with balconies stacked straight up. This one is not. architects-Alliance shifted the balconies from floor to floor, so the facade looks staggered and changes as you walk past. UrbanToronto singled it out as one of the waterfront buildings breaking the mould of the standard downtown condo.

The tower completes a larger plan. The first phases of Pier 27 are four low, rectangular buildings arranged in pairs and joined by three-storey cantilevered bridges that echo the gantries once used to load freighters in the harbour. The pier buildings won a 2019 Ontario Concrete Award. The tower is the vertical exclamation point at Queens Quay and Yonge.

The earlier phases drew strong reviews. The Toronto Star’s former architecture critic Christopher Hume described the bridge idea as a tower laid on its side, a way to add density without height. The tower then supplied the height the low pier buildings left out, and the two halves only make sense together.

The design has a practical side too. The architects pivoted the pier buildings slightly to frame lake views and keep a public path to the water’s edge open, so the community sits on the waterfront rather than walling it off.

Layouts and the view question

Condos.ca lists suites from about 604 to 1,175 sq ft, so the smallest plans here are larger than the studios and tiny one-bedrooms that dominate many newer towers. The listings I saw were one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom plans, which is the core of the building.

On the waterfront, exposure is everything. South- and east-facing suites look over the harbour, the Yonge Street Slip and the islands; north-facing suites look back at the city and the Gardiner corridor. Those are different products, and they should be priced differently even at the same size.

The staggered balconies also change from floor to floor, so two suites with the same plan can have different outdoor space. Ask for the actual balcony dimensions for the suite you are looking at rather than relying on the typical plan.

A minimum size of about 600 sq ft also changes who lives here. There are no micro-studios in the mix, and in my experience buildings without them see less tenant turnover than towers built around 350 sq ft units. That usually shows in how common areas are treated and how often the elevators are booked for moves.

What is changing around the foot of Yonge

This corner is in the middle of a major build-out. Pinnacle One Yonge, whose SkyTower is planned to be among the tallest buildings in Canada, is under construction less than a block north. Sugar Wharf’s towers rise a few blocks east. The skyline you see from a north-facing suite today will not be the one you see in five years.

There is a second name issue to be aware of. UrbanToronto uses ‘Pier 27 Phase 3’ for a separate, not-yet-built proposal at 25 Queens Quay East with towers of 45 and 11 storeys and a daycare. Condos.ca groups 25 Queens Quay East with this building’s listing, but the finished tower you can buy into today is the one at 15 Queens Quay East. If a future building is approved on the neighbouring site, it may affect views from the west side.

Day to day, you have the water’s edge promenade at your door, the ferry docks and Harbourfront to the west and the Financial District a walk north. The panel on this page has the transit details.

What the Tower at Pier 27 costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,046 per square foot. That is a touch above the earlier Pier 27 buildings at 39 Queens Quay East, about $1,032, and 29 Queens Quay East, about $1,010, and well above most older towers north of the Gardiner. You are paying for the waterfront, the newer building and the design.

When I checked, four suites were for sale, asking from about $530,000 to about $790,000 across one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom plans. Only a handful of suites were listed for rent, which may point to a building with more owner-occupiers than many newer towers, though one snapshot of listings is not proof.

Fees on the active listings averaged about $0.93 per square foot, and Condos.ca lists heat and air conditioning as included along with common elements. Having heating and cooling in the fee is less common in towers of this age, and it makes the monthly cost more predictable. Hydro and water may still be separate, so confirm the metering.

Building specifications

Amenities at Tower at Pier 27 (Pier 27 Phase III)

An outdoor pool on the waterfront is the standout here, along with a staffed concierge and security. Outdoor pools are seasonal and expensive to maintain, so look at how the reserve fund plans for the pool deck and its equipment. Ask about the pool’s season and hours too; a waterfront pool that opens for ten weeks a year is a summer perk, not a year-round amenity.

Jatin’s honest take on Tower at Pier 27 (Pier 27 Phase III)

Tower at Pier 27 (Pier 27 Phase III) — 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.