Dormant plans to bring boutique hotel to Toronto back after 6 years on ice

A long-dormant proposal to construct a boutique hotel in Toronto is back from the dead, but the planned hospitality property won't be quite as flashy as first promised years earlier.

In late 2019, plans were filed with the City seeking approval to construct a 14-storey hotel at 445 Adelaide Street West in Toronto's Fashion District, with renderings boasting the Hudson Hotel branding 

Originally planned to open in 2024 as the first Canadian outpost of a Manhattan-based boutique hotel brand, the project was to be developed by hotel operator sbe in partnership with Lamb Development Corp and IE Hospitality. 

However, just months after it was announced, the entire travel sector shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unravelling plans for many hotels across the city.

The 2019 proposal was itself a reimagining of an earlier 2017 plan from Niche Developments that sought to build a mid-rise commercial development on the site at Adelaide and Morrison Street — a location that has now been targeted for redevelopment for close to a decade.

During an almost six-year period of inactivity that included a global pandemic and the resulting decline of tourism and hospitality businesses, plans sat idle, awaiting the industry's recovery and a drawn-out appeals process.

The 2019 plan was approved in principle by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, which has since been renamed to the Ontario Land Tribunal. However, it was appealed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Division Court, which ultimately struck down the Tribunal's decision.

Planning documents state that this decision was "based on matters related to jurisdiction but not, in our view, on the planning merits of the application," leading to a revised and even taller proposal now before City planners.

The stance of the project team is apparent in new plans filed this spring, which have brought this project back from the back burner.

An updated design from architects—Alliance increases the building height to 17 storeys, though this change comes with a notable revision to the building envelope, stripping away the colourful exterior finishes that would have set this structure apart from surrounding developments.

Plans call for the demolition of existing low-rise brick buildings, including heritage-protected properties, sparing just half a rowhouse. This course requires Lamb to apply for the buildings to be de-designated from their current status as protected under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

If that request is approved along with the rezoning ask, the site would be primed for development with the new hotel building. 

The structure would rise to a height of almost 60 metres, housing 144 hotel suites, approximately 156 square metres of retail /restaurant space on the ground floor fronting Adelaide Street West, meeting rooms, gymnasium, library and building service uses, and a second restaurant space on the 17th floor offering impressive city views.

While previously billed as the first Hudson Hotel outpost in Canada, it appears all Hudson branding has been scrubbed from the latest renderings.

blogTO has reached out to Lamb Development and sbe for comment, and will update this story if additional information is provided.

Though sbe's continued involvement in the plans is not specified in planning documents, the hospitality brand did recently announce plans for the five-star Katsuya Hotel that will be built in Toronto's upcoming Freed Hotel and Residences project.