It was another wild year of ups and downs for the Toronto real estate market, bringing some very memorable and equally forgettable proposals for new projects in 2023.

Banality was, once again, in ample supply among new developments, however, a handful of proposals stood out from the pack this year as some of the boldest visions proposed for the city.

Here are just five of the most exciting new development proposals tabled with city planners during the last year.

St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts

A design competition to replace the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts resulted in five finalists revealed in March 2023, and it was the team of Hariri Pontarini, LMN Architects, Tawaw Collective, Smoke Architecture and SLA that came out on top with their vision to rebuild the 1,367-seat, dual auditorium theatre at Yonge and Front Streets.

191 Sherbourne Street

Developer Fitzrovia Real Estate's plans to add a pair of new towers to a complex of 1970s Brutalist-style towers turned heads when revealed this past summer.

The bold design from architects PARTISANS is just the latest contribution to the firm's reputation portfolio of avant-garde designs, calling for a pair of 49- and 47-storey rental towers bridged above the existing buildings on site.

1117 Queen Street West

Even before plans were filed in November, the pending redevelopment of the historic Postal Station C on Queen Street West was one of the most talked about in the city.

The 1902-built Beaux Arts-style former post office will live on as housing community space within the base of a striking new 29-storey condominium tower designed by architects Giannone Petricone Associates.

646 Yonge Street

Among the first development applications tabled in 2023, a plan to redevelop 646-664 Yonge Street and 2-4 Irwin Avenue, just northwest of Wellesley subway station, threatens a block of business that includes Butter Chicken Roti, CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice and Koyoi.

Developer KingSett Capital called on by renowned Chicago-based firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture to design a 75-storey condo tower rising 254 metres that would stand as Toronto's seventh-tallest building if completed today.

Beltline Yards

Not everything has to be tall or shiny to garner praise, and game-changing proposal from developer Hullmark, in partnership with BGO, features a surprise union of industrial and postmodern aesthetics from UK-based architects Allies and Morrison.

The sprawling 7.3-acre project, dubbed Beltline Yards, would replace the existing Canada Goose Headquarters at 250 Bowie Avenue with a massive master-planned community featuring almost 2,000 residential units, retail, parkland and light industrial space.

There were several more ambitious proposals in 2023 that didn't make the cut for the top five, and you can browse the many coming additions to the city by scanning through blogTO's real estate news section.

2024 is likely to offer an impressive new crop of contenders as Toronto's development scene continues to claw its way through high lending rates and declining prices.