It's been a busy year for partners Carbon Hospitality, Zinc Developments, and the Alterra Group, as the companies have been guiding a new boutique hotel project in Toronto's King West area through the City's planning and approvals process. Originally submitted to the City for rezoning in August, 2015, the 49-51 Camden Street proposal initially drew concerns from planning staff and locals, leading to changes before its resubmission in June of this year. The following month, the revised plan was approved, priming the Camden and Brant Street site for the start of construction.

Ground level, 51 Camden Street, image via submission to City of Toronto

Designed by award-winning architects Shim-Sutcliffe—the multi-award-winning firm behind local architectural landmarks like Integral House and the Sisters of St. Joseph Residence—the 13-storey hotel would rise to a height of 45 metres including the mechanical penthouse. In spirit with the firm's established architectural language, a number of warm toned and textured finishes will be used on the exterior. This palette will include precast concrete panels with embedded brick masonry, poured exposed concrete, bronze-tinted vision glass, ipe and Douglas Fir wood finishes, and weathering steel.

In the coming weeks, the installation of hoarding around the site and the start of shoring operations will mark the start of the project's construction. This process is expected to continue for the next few months, with the start of excavation expected to take place in early 2017.

View of the site from September, 2016, image by Craig White

With construction drawing closer and details still emerging, we will return with updates on the project. In the meantime, additional images and information can be found in the project's dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.