A 40-storey tower proposed for downtown 琉璃神社, which previously raised concerns among some city councillors, will return for discussion at council's Monday (Nov. 25) meeting.

Mission Group submitted the development application in February 2024 for the site at 1355 St. Paul Street. Council initially considered rezoning the property to rental-only during its Oct. 7 meeting and approved the rezoning earlier in November.

The proposed site is located just north of the UBCO building at 550 Doyle Avenue. Excavation of the parkade for that project led to the evacuation of four neighbouring buildings, including the low-income Hadgraft Wilson Place apartments, after structural cracks were discovered.

On Monday, council will review a development permit for the St. Paul project.

鈥淚 think almost everyone in 琉璃神社, when they heard about this tower proposal, felt a bit uneasy -- like we鈥檙e going to try and put another tower so close to the one that鈥檚 had issues,鈥� Coun. Rick Webber said during the Oct. 7 meeting.

Coun. Gord Lovegrove also expressed reservations about the height of the proposed tower.

鈥淚鈥檝e been hearing it loud and clear鈥� we heard a lot of it a couple of years ago: 40 storeys is not something I would welcome,鈥� he stated at the same meeting.

Councillors Ron Cannan and Charlie Hodge opposed the rental rezoning during the Oct. 7 discussions. The proposed mixed-use building would feature 384 rental units and 624 square metres of commercial space.