Property developer Meriton has submitted new plans for a 73-storey residential tower on Adelaide Street after Brisbane City Council labelled its first highrise design attempt "appalling".

The company, owned by billionaire Harry Triguboff, was told to go back to the drawing board after a meeting of the council's urban planning committee in May.

Liberal and Labor politicians, as well as Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, expressed concern over the original 76-storey tower's "appalling-looking" design and its potential impact on traffic congestion.

Meriton last week resubmitted plans for a new 250m building, to be constructed on the corner of Adelaide and Macrossan streets, which it describes as "tall, slim and elegant".

The tower's facade comprises grey-coloured glazed windows broken up by "continuous vertical elements" and horizontal perforated metal screens, according to Meriton's new development application.

Large expanses of clear glass on lower levels will create a colourful and active footpath space, the developer said. It plans to include street-level retail space for restaurants and cafes.

The highrise tower will combine a mixture of serviced and residential apartments, while a three-storey podium will include commercial space.

The building will also boast a 10-level basement car park that is tipped to require one of the biggest excavation efforts in the city's construction history.

Meriton has been working closely with council planners for more than a year to address traffic issues.

The developer is also rumoured to be working on plans for a 80 to 90-storey residential tower on Herschel Street, after the company paid a reported $25 million for a 1800 square metre site late last year.

Mr Triguboff, regarded as one of the country's most successful property developers, is famous for declaring Brisbane a "backwater" in the 1980s.

His company purchased the Adelaide Street site last year and its planned highrise will be Meriton's first foray into Queensland's capital.