Blocks surrounding the King-Bathurst Ontario Line Subway Station are primed for some impressive transformative change in the coming years, including a bold proposal that would add a futuristic-looking 19-storey tower to the area.

A proposal to redevelop an existing commercial building at 675 King Street West was first tabled in fall 2022, and appears to have evolved in the year since with an ambitious new design from Sweeny &Co Architects.

Developer Colonia Treuhand Holdings intends to replace the existing three-storey building — home to a Wild Wing location and other businesses — with a 19-storey tower containing purpose-built rental and office uses.

Renderings on the developer's website dated late September 2023 depict the proposed tower and reveal sweeping updates to the plan in the year since the proposal was first submitted.

Updating the simple rectilinear design proposed last fall, the latest images in the 2023 iteration — which has not yet been officially resubmitted with the City — show a striking new architectural expression that builds off of the massing established with the initial plan.

Large arches would frame retail on the ground floor, while massive three-storey pill-shaped windows would line an office component, replacing the space that would be lost in the redevelopment.

Above, projecting balconies would rest on sculptural elements that combine to visually read as floating platforms.

A total of 145 purpose-built rental units are proposed, and would contribute to an expected wave of similarly-scaled developments that will centre around the future Ontario Line station.

Images show the new tower in context with Toronto's oldest bar, The Wheatsheaf Tavern, two doors to the east.

The bar at the corner of King and Bathurst and the adjacent building to the west at 669 King Street West are not included in the 11,840-square-foot development site.

In fact, the development would only further insulate the properties from future development threats. Already heritage-protected, the Wheatsheaf building is also hemmed in by an under-construction development to the immediate south.