A major redevelopment could shake up views of the Toronto skyline and pack even more residents into the densely populated waterfront.

Plans have been filed with the City seeking to bring a 49-storey residential tower to the northwest corner of Queens Quay and Lower Spadina.

Arkfield Development, which acquired the site this past August, has signed on architects BDP Quadrangle to design the project at 10 Lower Spadina Avenue.

BDP Quadrangle

The site in question is home to a seven-storey office building and attached hydro utility vault.

City of Toronto

Current tenants of the office building include a former Starbucks location that was, until a few months ago, frequented by both locals and crowds of tourists exploring the central waterfront, as well as a Subway sandwich shop and the offices of the Turkish Consulate General.

City of Toronto

The office building would be cleared of current tenants and demolished to make way for the new tower, while the current hydro vault would be retained at the southwest corner of the site.

A total of 511 residential units are proposed, though planning documents note that the tenure of the building, whether rental or condo, "will be provided at a later date." 

Most of the building's floor area is proposed as residential, with a 128-square metre commercial space planned for the tower's ground floor, which will maintain some ground-level animation for this block of Queens Quay.

In terms of height, 49 storeys is quite the ask for this portion of the waterfront. Several tall buildings exist to the north of Queens Quay, though the street itself between York and Bathurst streets has been built out exclusively with buildings of less than half this height.

Even a new tower under construction less than one block east is maxing out at 21 storeys, built more or less in line with the zoning strategy that sees building heights taper upwards from the waterfront while capping heights at the southernmost edge of the city.

Despite the considerable shift from the current context, the location at the junction of two major streetcar lines does support a case for increased density at this site, one that should make the forthcoming approval and possible appeal stages an interesting watch.