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In the heart of Downtown Toronto, a revised development proposal is set to replace the Novotel Hotel at 45 The Esplanade. This would result in significant intensification of the site, while still retaining hotel suites for city visitors. UrbanToronto previously covered the development last year when two towers, proposed to be only 20m apart, were planned for the site. Now, a settlement between the City and the developer has resulted in a compromise — given that short 20m distance — in order to bring a single tower to the site. With a much larger floor-plate than most Toronto towers — 1,350m² instead of 750m² — the design employs a reflective glass section between two distinctively detailed ends to lessen the visual impact of the tower's atypical size.
The site is located on the south side of The Esplanade, between Yonge Street and Church Street. It is home to the nine-storey Novotel Hotel, which recently served as a shelter during the pandemic. It has since been refurbished and reopened as a Novotel hotel again. The hotel is in the city's St Lawrence neighbourhood, a prime location for visitors, nearby landmarks such as the St Lawrence Market, St James Cathedral, Meridian Hall, and Berczy Park.
Whereas Republic Developments' original proposal called for a two 36-storey towers, the revision calls for a single 39-storey mixed-use condominium building. Toronto City Council accepted the new plan at its May 5, 2023 meeting, instructing the City Solicitor to advise the Ontario Land Tribunal, to which the proposal had been appealed, of the settlement. Only technical matters remain before the Official Plan and Zoning amendments required by the proposal are finalized.
The new design by Arcadis — the Amsterdam-based global firm that acquired Toronto-based IBI Group in Fall 2022 — utilizes glass to create the appearance of two distinct buildings. The building is to be 124.9m in height, slightly taller than the previously proposed towers. Located in the podium, the hotel would have 141 suites, while the total number of residential units has gone up from 682 to 726. The podium would remain seven storeys and include ground floor retail and hotel use. Despite the higher number of units, with these changes the total gross floor area (GFA) proposed has decreased from 54,034m² to 52,976m², while with six residential elevators indicated in the architectural drawings, the building would be significantly above the threshold of 1 elevator per 100 units.
The redesign eliminates the similar appearances of the two towers in the previous proposal. Instead, the western side would feature a more curved façade compared to the east side. The middle section would comprise of reflective vision glass, serving as the visual separator of the two sides, and align with the hotel lobby entrance at grade facing The Esplanade. The residential lobby entrance would be to the east, with retail entrances at the west and east ends.
The proposal includes 1,948² of amenity space, including 722m² of outdoor amenities on the eighth floor above the podium. This would be a decrease from the 2,227m² and 861m² respectively of the previous submission.
Below grade, the resubmission retains the three levels of underground parking. The number of total vehicular parking spaces has only slightly decreased to 207, with 45 for visitors. For bicycles there would be 700 long-term and 84 short-term parking spots.
The site is less than 400m east of Union Station with its TTC local, GO regional, and national rail services, and is a few blocks south of the King Street streetcar line. It also has close to access to the Gardiner Expressway.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | Arcadis, Counterpoint Engineering, EQ Building Performance Inc., Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists |
