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The Germain Group, who recently opened their second Le Germain Hotel in Toronto at Maple Leaf Square, have tapped their favourite Quebec-based architects LeMay Michaud, to design another new hotel Toronto. The ALT would be the third in the no-frills-chic affordable chain started by Germain in 2007. The very first Le Germain Hotel in Quebec City's suburban Ste-Foy area was converted to an ALT in 2007, and a second ALT opened in the Montreal south shore suburb of Brossard in 2009.
One thing we don't know about the Toronto location yet: where it is. Based on the first two ALT locations our best guess is out-of-the-core... so that could be anywhere. When you want to build cheap-chic you need inexpensive land. We look forward to finding out where this will be! Here is the plan for the 14-storey Toronto location:
Its skyline cut-out will be a signature of the brand's design, which you can see at the Brossard location:
Besides the Toronto location, Germain also has plans for a Halifax location. Here's the plan for it:
We don't know how long before we'll hear the official announcement of Toronto's ALT. Until then, count us as very curious! We are just as curious about another potential new hotel for Toronto. Across Yonge Street from the Eaton Cenrte lie two heritage bank buildings, the southerly one at 199 being the longer unused of the two. Parasuco, a fashion jeans maker and retailer, acquired the 1905 former Canadian Bank of Commerce building in 1999 hoping to open a new temple to denim within its walls. The building was designed by Darling and Pearson in the Beaux-Art style, and is a listed heritage structure, so Parasuco will have to connect the modern with the heritage sensitively. Here's the photo of the building from tobuilt.ca during a period when Parasuco had wanted to resell.
As it was released with no fanfare, we missed an announcement that Parasuco made on March 16, 2009. It indicates that their dream of revitalizing this building may be back on track. From their website:
PARASUCO HOTEL IN TORONTO PROJECT FOR 2012 The Yonge Street landscape will be forever changed when fashion, architecture, design and bliss come together to create the most ambitious project Parasuco Jeans Inc. has put into action: The Parasuco Hotel. With more than 160 r ooms, the signature Parasuco Hotel will offer quality design, high levels of customer care in a very distinctive universe. Upscale and with an impeccable service, the trendy Parasuco Hotel will go to par with the brand's strong image. If you are interested in being part of this exceptional project, contact us via the Business Opportunities section and send us a message.
So, let's see if some businesses have taken them up on their offer, as this is what the 26-storey building, designed by Quebec-based LeMay Michaud, may look like:
