Toronto's housing market is experiencing a period of uncertainty, but declining demand has done little to curtail the pipeline of bold new proposals for tall towers in the city.

The latest plan pitched to City planners earlier this month seeks to redevelop a 0.19-hectare site at the northwest corner of Yonge and Breadalbane Streets with a 67-storey condominium tower.

Developer KingSett Capital has filed plans to replace the existing properties at 530-550 Yonge Street, 6 and 8 Breadalbane Street, and 145 St. Luke Lane. The buildings currently house a group of businesses, including the second location of BOKU Japanese Eats + Drinks, a Mr. Tonkatsu location, and other retail storefronts. 

All businesses on-site would eventually have to vacate for the proposed redevelopment (which could still be years down the road), but there are plans to preserve the block's existing low-rise heritage character while allowing new density above.

The site's location within the recently approved Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District has informed the project's design, with the tower to incorporate existing heritage attributes into its base.

The existing east facades of 538-544 Yonge Street (c. 1873) and 546-550 Yonge Street (c. 1889) are planned to be retained in-situ and built into the tower base, while the heritage storefront elements of 538 Yonge Street would be rehabilitated.

A total of 52,086 square metres of gross floor area is proposed across the building. The vast majority of this space (51,075 square metres) is proposed as residential condos and supporting space, along with 543 square metres of grade-related retail space and 469 square metres of community cultural space.

The proposed Giannone Petricone Associates-designed tower is slated to rise 228.4 metres tall, which would rank as the tenth-tallest building in Toronto if completed today.

A six-sided polygonal tower footprint with rounded edges would rise clad in clear glazing accented by orange fins. At the 57th floor, the tower's footprint is slightly shifted to create an upper volume that appears to teeter over the street below.

Back at street level, one standout offering of the proposal is a 168-square-metre privately-owned publicly-accessible space proposed at the southwest corner of the site. 

This partially enclosed space, with an arched ceiling and dramatic geometric design of colourful shapes, would front the east side of St. Luke Lane, east of Dr. Lillian McGregor Park.

Planning documents explain that the basis behind this small but vibrant-looking public space is to provide animation and act as an "interface" between the laneway and the adjacent park.

Though the project is roughly 30 times the height of the buildings that exist on site today, multiple local and provincial planning policies justify the big ask.

Project planners cite the location as being within a major transit station area served by four different subway stations within a 750-metre radius. In addition, the site is situated within an area where the City of Toronto's Official Plan promotes high-density development.