Rental tower would rise much taller than anything else on hip Toronto stretch

A proposed rental tower would dramatically shake up the skyline of Toronto’s hip West Queen West area, planned to rise far taller than anything else along the strip.

A mid-November application submitted with City of Toronto planners seeks to bring a 27-storey tower to a site at 1153 Queen West, directly across the street from the venerable Drake Hotel, on a strip of land currently occupied by a commercial building, a retail plaza topped by rental units, and an associated surface parking.

The site in question includes the former home of 2022-shuttered Curry’s Artists’ Materials, as well as a building at the corner of Queen and Abell that housed the former longtime flagship location of the Drake General Store until its closure in 2021.

Google Street View

Developer QuadReal Property Group is hoping to receive approvals for a pretty significant divergence from the existing built form along the south side of Queen Street West, which has been developed exclusively with mid-rise residential buildings in recent years.

QuadReal’s plan for the site calls for the demolition of the existing buildings and construction of a new 27-storey rental building designed by Turner Fleischer Architects. 

The planned tower would rise a whopping 20 levels higher than its immediate neighbour to the west, which was built to just a seven-storey height in 2011.

Set to rise just over 99 metres, the tower’s significant height ask compared to surrounding buildings, an increase attributed to the forthcoming King-Liberty GO station a short distance to the south and the site’s position within an associated Protected Major Transit Station Area (PMTSA) where greater densities are supported.

The developer is seeking over 36 times the existing unit count, calling for 367 units, consisting of 357 market-rate rentals and another 10 rentals to replace units above the current retail plaza in accordance with the City’s rental housing demolition policies.

Despite the proposal’s significant density request being based on its position within a PMTSA — with a future GO station to the south and the TTC’s 501 Queen streetcar line running just out the front door — the developer has still opted for a considerable parking component that suggests that close to one-third of residents would rely on cars instead of nearby transit options.

The plan calls for a two-level underground garage that would be accessed via a parking entrance off Abell Street, and would house 133 spaces for residents and visitors. A significant bicycle parking component is also planned above grade, with space for over 400 bicycles.

While 1153 Queen West would rise much taller than anything that exists along this stretch today, it is not the only such development seeking to go tall in the West Queen West area.

Another proposal a short distance to the east at 1117 Queen West is planned to ascend even taller, at 29 storeys, with an impressive design that turned heads in 2023, though that plan has faced pushback from the City since proposed roughly one year ago.