335 Queen Street West
Adam Vaughan
Toronto City Councillor: Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina
e-newsletter
February 1, 2008
335 Queen Street West
Tami Kenwell of Madhouse Designs Inc. presented this proposal on behalf of Mr. Impera, the owner of 335 Queen Street West at Beverley. This proposal is for an elegant boutique hotel with 19 rooms, a fresh market restaurant, dining room, and a roof top patio that will be open five months of the year.
There will be front, middle and back rooms on each floor, of which the two largest suites will beat the front of the building. The rooms in the middle will not have any windows, but will receive light from sky lights. Windows at the back of the hotel will look onto the laneway. The rooms will be approx. $150-175 per night and double that price for the premium suites. The hotel will rent to people looking for an elegant European boutique experience. There will be valet parking using the lot at Peter and Queen Street.
The new Queen Street District Heritage Conservation guidelines apply to this application. The building materials used will be red brick, limestone on the sills and slate. The developer has a foundation permit but is still working with City Heritage staff to resolve issues before getting a building permit. The Committee of Adjustment has approved variances for the built form. The sign for the building, HQ (Hotel on Queen), will need a variance from the Committee of Adjustment.
Residents do not want an illuminated sign on top of the hotel, saying it does not fit with the heritage designation. I suggested that hanging the signage from the front of the hotel would be a more traditional approach.
Concerns were raised that putting more parking onto the lot at Peter and Queen would force overload parking into the surrounding community. The proponent offered that hotels do not generate a lot of parking, but are more likely to require taxi pick ups. The residents would prefer an enclosed dumpster space within the building and were also concerned about the noise coming from the roof top patio. A new City policy and guidelines will govern the noise from the roof top patio and it will be open to the public. There will be a lot of hotel investment coming into this area, generated by the development of the Toronto International Film Festival building.
http://www.theara.org/minutes_docs/VaughanE Newsletter - 2007 02 01.pdf