It's always fun to round off a week with another big project. Well, fun for UrbanToronto readers; not always fun for the developer. Cadillac Fairview were not quite ready to take the wrapping off the package when early images of their rental tower project on the northwest corner of Queen and Yonge Streets were leaked online.

Early concept for 2 Queen West by Zeidler Partnership Architects for Cadillac Fairview

An application has been submitted to the City for a building totalling 69 storeys, featuring a glass and steel skyscraper rising behind a reconstruced 1890s heritage structure at the corner. Currently housing an Atmosphere sports store, the Jamieson building's facade, now half hidden by aluminum panels from a partial restoration in the 1980s, would be fully restored, and would continue to be used for retail.

The tower above is proposed to contain 580 rental suites and a bicycle parking space for each. No car parking is proposed: the tower is located immediately adjacent to the Queen subway station in the heart of the city, and can claim a walk score of 100. The redevelopment presents opportunities to improve the building's connection to the Toronto Eaton Centre and to provide better street access to the subway station below.

Early concept for 2 Queen West by Zeidler Partnership Architects for Cadillac Fairview

The leaked images of the project were created to accompany the zoning amendment submission, but they do not represent a finalized look or plan for the development. Senior Partner Vaidila Banelis at Zeidler Partnership Architects referred to them as "placeholders", useful for the submission until such time as a final design is worked out. Typically architects and developers prefer, like most creators, that their work not be made public until they have a polished product ready for comment. That said, intial reaction to the posting of the renderings in UrbanToronto's Projects and Construction thread for the development has been markedly positive.

Toronto's Planning Department expects to have a preliminary report on the project completed in the next couple of weeks, which would then be presented at Toronto East York Community Council on June 18th. UrbanToronto will keep you up to date on the project as it moves through the planning process.