Bold retractable-roof Toronto proposal dead and hotel planned in its place

A bold vision to add office space and a retractable-roof restaurant to an old Toronto building is officially dead, the latest victim of the real estate market downturn. However, a new plan has already emerged in its place, one that would bring a new boutique hotel to one of the most tourist-heavy parts of town.

Just a few blocks north of Toronto's legendary Rogers Centre — where the era of retractable-roof stadium design began in the 1980s — a 2018 proposal for 160 John St. sought to retain and expand the existing Entertainment District warehouse building with an 11-storey addition containing eight levels of office space and a three-level restaurant boasting a retractable roof.

Sadly, the universe had other plans.

Two years after the proposal landed, Toronto's office market was hit hard by the pandemic, and years later, the market remains a shell of its former self, and commercial vacancies still soar in the downtown core.

In early 2024, the site received rezoning approval via the Ontario Land Tribunal, granting approval for a six-storey addition. However, despite the years invested in planning and appeals, it was becoming clear that the 2020s office market just wasn't ready for this proposal.

An updated vision was filed with City planners in March, killing the previous vision from SvN Architects (since renamed WW+P Architects & Planners) and opting instead to retain the existing 1912-built five-storey building and convert it into a boutique hotel.

Constantine Enterprises Inc.'s updated plan for the site features a lobby and a 142-square-metre restaurant space on the ground floor, along with kitchen and back-of-house areas. The levels above would house 43 hotel suites.

The updated submission axes the addition first proposed in 2018 and instead would convert the existing building into a boutique hotel.

The site in question is currently home to local pub The Friar, though planning documents do not specify if the current tenant will retain a presence in the redevelopment.

The application is now in the hands of City staff and will next be circulated to City divisions and external agencies for review.