December 20, 2006
Development
Railroad lands to boutique
Hôtel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square in the plans
The boutique hotel boom continues in downtown Toronto as Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment in conjunction with Groupe Germain announced plans to revitalize the railroad lands and complement the waterfront development with a dynamic sports flare.
MAPLE LEAF SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Towering above Maple Leaf Square is the future of what Torontonians can expect when they venture to the Air Canada Centre.
Groupe Germain’s development of the Hôtel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square is a small fraction of the railroad land development.
The eight-storey boutique-hotel will have 171 guest rooms, 5,000 square feet of meeting spaces, 8,000 square feet of fitness facilities and a 2,000 square foot hotel cafe.
The entertainment consortium will start construction in January and expects to be finished by fall 2009.
Christiane Germain, co-president of Groupe Germain, was enthusiastic about working with Maple Leaf Sports, bringing experienced architect Viateur Michaud of Lemay Michaud to ensure the hotel has Germain’s “special touch.”
Christiane Germain
Michaud was the creative force behind Groupe Germain’s previous enterprise in Toronto.
When asked about the boom of boutique hotels in Toronto, Germain chuckled, “Tell me about it.” The company is looking into other Canadian markets to expand their chain of boutique hotels.
“Right now, we have this one planned in Toronto for the next couple of years and we have looked at other possibilities, but this seemed to look like the more interesting one for us,” Germain told Daily Commercial News.
Germain looks forward to the future of the hotel in its location because of all the development that is occurring.
The city is also expanding the underground PATH walkway through the Air Canada Centre forking into both Maple Leaf Square and 25 York Street to meet the needs of pedestrian traffic.
“We really do believe we are one of the many integral pieces, with yet another extension of the PATH system to York Avenue. We’re bringing in not only residential but commercial and office space,” says Richard Peddie, president and executive officer for Maple Sports & Entertainment.
Over a million square feet of award winning residential communities are being accompanied by fine dining restaurants, a mega-store, a Longo’s grocery store and the boutique hotel.
Peddie says the project brings Toronto’s downtown core closer to the waterfront.
“We’ll bring our own sports and entertainment cache towards this project. It won’t be Disney-like in its representation, but you’ll know you’re in a sports entertainment hotel,” adds Peddie.
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