It's been approximately six months since we last checked in on a new boutique hotel being built at 51 Camden Street in Toronto's Fashion District. In the time since, the hotel's long-rumoured brand was finally confirmed to be Ace Hotel, a Los Angeles-headquartered chain of trendy boutique hotels. Work on Toronto's, which will be the eleventh in the chain, has been progressing inside and out to bring the hotel into operation later this year. The 13-storey, Shim-Sutcliffe-designed building is now approaching its final form at the southwest corner of Camden and Brant Streets. 

Looking southeast to the Ace Hotel Toronto, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

Developed by the team of Alterra Group of Companies, Zinc Developments, and Prowinko, the project has been under construction since late 2016, and crossed a milestone when it topped out at 45 metres in September, 2019. The building's tower crane was removed in December, and in the months since, both exterior and interior finishes have progressed a fair bit.

Cladding installation was first spotted in June, 2019, a process which has since enclosed much of the building and hidden the arched ground floor restaurant from sight. The hotel features a modern spin on the area's red brick warehouse style with a mix of red brick-embedded precast concrete panels, dark-tinted low-iron vision glazing with low-e coating, and a combination of bronze tinted vision glass and insulated backpainted spandrel glass.

Looking east to the Ace Hotel Toronto, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

The finishes are now installed as high as the uppermost suite level, with finishes soon to take shape on the final floor, shared by a mechanical penthouse and rooftop terrace bar and lounge. Finishes also remain to be installed on a vertical strip at the east end of the tower's north facade, where a temporary exterior hoist remains in operation. This hoist will be removed in the near future, allowing the final sections of cladding to follow.

Looking southwest to the Ace Hotel Toronto, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

The building will bring 130 luxury hotel suites to the neighbourhood upon opening later this year.

Ace Hotel Toronto, image via Alterra/Zinc/Prowinko

Additional information and images can be found in our Database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment below.

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