Iconic Toronto dive bar Sneaky Dee's could still be demolished for condos

It looks like last call may not be off the table for iconic Toronto punk/dive bar, Sneaky Dee's.

A long-dormant plan to redevelop the legendary graffiti-painted watering hole at Bathurst and College resurfaced in late March, threatening the end of a venue that has been a favourite of the local punk scene since it opened in the early 1990s.

An application filed earlier this spring on behalf of developer Ironwood Bay seeks changes to the site's zoning and the City of Toronto's Official Plan to permit a 16-storey mixed-use condo development spanning 419 through 431 College St.

This is not the first time Sneak's has found itself in the crosshairs of condo developers.

In 2020, the building was the subject of a development application seeking to bring a 13-storey condo to the site. The application was met with dismay from locals, coming amid the early days of COVID-19 when a seemingly endless list of beloved local haunts were falling to redevelopment proposals.

After lying dormant for over five years, an up-scaled version of the development landed with City planners at the tail end of March, arguing for additional height and density due to changes in the surrounding urban fabric since the project was first envisioned.

The development application states that "Since the initial application was filed, a number of circumstances have factored in, motivating a change for this site."

Those changes include an increase from 169 to 203 units and an additional three storeys to the previous design from BDP Quadrangle.

BDP Quadrangle

Sneaky Dee's confirmed to blogTO at the time of the previous proposal that the bar had no plans of leaving the local scene, even if that means finding a new home once the wrecking ball arrives.

And anyone fearing the total loss of a music venue at this location can rest easy, as, like the 2020 plan, the project incorporates a proposed music venue on its ground floor, keeping the Bathurst and College intersection firmly entrenched in local music culture.

Measuring just shy of 232 square metres (2,495 square feet), the music venue would be flanked by a pair of retail spaces, one of which would occupy the corner of the block where Sneaky Dee's currently stands.

BDP Quadrangle

While the document might stoke fear among staff and patrons, there are signs that this application doesn't reflect the developer's current vision for the site. 

The submission's choice of condo tenure in the current housing market is, to put it bluntly, totally ridiculous. Add in the fact that the submission comes on the heels of an administrative file closure from the City may signal that this updated plan is merely an exercise to keep the proposal on the books.

BDP Quadrangle

In April, the City contacted the project team to inform them that the proposal was being placed under administrative file closure, citing "no activity by the applicant to advance this application in over one calendar year," and stating that "staff consider the application inactive and will be taking no further steps to process it."

A new round of planning documents with slight revisions puts this project back on file, and could be read as an exercise to accomplish just that.

If not, I genuinely wish the developer the best of luck selling over 200 condos in the current market.