Amexon has brought forward a proposal to redevelop the current site of the Grand Hotel at 225 Jarvis Street on the east side of Downtown Toronto. The proposed building would see the Grand Hotel and its existing 13-storey tower preserved on the site south of Dundas Street but transformed in as part of a 45-storey tower designed by Core Architects, with an additional 451 condominium units added to the property.

Looking Southeast at the proposed Grand Hotel Redevelopment, image courtesy of Amexon

The existing tower would be retained on site, with a new, taller tower partly encompassing it on its north side. As proposed the new tower would stand 154 metres, or 505 feet for those who prefer the Imperial System, and it would be the second tallest building currently proposed in the Dundas and Jarvis cluster was Pace Condominiums are currently rising and where Dundas Square Gardens will be going under construction soon.

The Grand Hotel, image retrieved from Apple Maps

The redeveloped building would feature hotel rooms lining the outside of the building's expanded podium, with hotel amenities and conference rooms on the interior of the podium. The first level of the tower would feature hotel rooms as well, with everything above that dedicated to new condominium units. 

Close up of the proposed developments base, image courtesy of Amexon

The existing Grand Hotel building, originally built as the Ontario RCMP headquarters, has exceptionally high floor heights. The fact that Amexon is proposing to retain the tower means that those floor heights would remain for the future condominium residents living in the space. Another unique feature for the building is the large podium structure, which provides a large amount of space for outdoor amenities and green roofs above for residents and/or hotel guests. 

Southwest axonometric view of the development in context with surrounding developments. Image courtesy of Amexon

On ground level, the proposed building would feature a covered driveway on the north side of the site running from Jarvis to George Street. Parking garage access, building servicing, and the condominium entrance would be accessed from the laneway. Along Jarvis, the Hotel entrance will be in the middle of the site, with the hotel restaurant located on the south end of the frontage. On the George Street side, 5 townhome units are proposed to face onto the street.

Ground floor plan of the proposed development, image courtesy of Amexon

The proposed building would have a 12.5 metre setback from its north property line, but only a 17.5 metre total setback from a proposed tower by Centrecourt Developments to the north of the site at 175 Dundas Street East. This issue will certainly prove to be contentious, as under the City's Tall Building Guidelines there is supposed to be 25 metres between towers. Centrecourt has appealed their rezoning application to the OMB to rectify the issue, so this will likely end up being resolved there. Amexon can claim to have provided their half of the setback distance by giving their tower a 12.5 metre setback from the property line, but the size of Centrecourt's site means it will be difficult for them to provide a similar setback distance on their side of the property line. 

Site Plan showing the 17.5 metre separation distance, image courtesy of Amexon

If you would like more information of the proposed development, UrbanToronto's dataBase file includes more renderings and other information. What are your thoughts on the proposed development? Feel free to join in on the conversation in the associated Forum thread, or give your feedback in the comments below!