Historic hotel anchors stylish building
SYDNIA YU
From Friday's Globe and Mail
June 20, 2008 at 11:27 AM EDT
For more than a century, the Kormann House Hotel has been situated across from Moss Park at Queen and Sherbourne streets, which — rife with crime and prostitution — is considered one of the least desirable corners in the downtown core.
But KC Developments expects that to change once it restores the heritage landmark and reopens it as a part of a modern, 10-storey condominium called Kormann House.
"When the building is built and everything is redeveloped here, it's going to be a great neighbourhood," says Shakeel Walji, who is the creative director of the Walsh Group, which is marketing the project, which is expected to take about two years to build.
"You can already see there are a lot of restaurants and furniture stores opening up along this stretch of Queen Street East," he adds. Other residential development nearby is also helping to transform the urban landscape.
"What's really tremendous about Kormann House is that it's extending the success of Queen Street East further east," says Brad J. Lamb of Brad J. Lamb Realty, which will handle the sale of units in the building, as it has done in other condos, including the Glasshouse on Queen near Jarvis Street.
"It sold out in a weekend, and proved that Queen Street is a hot place to live," he says.
In another improvement planned for the neighbourhood, the city will revitalize Moss Park, which was a popular gathering place for baseball games, concerts and outdoor performances in the late 19th century.
To create more animation on the street, KC Developments will put commercial and retail space on the ground floor of Kormann House, something that has been done successfully in projects on King Street East, Mr. Walji points out.
The residential suites will include six authentic lofts on the second and third levels of the original hotel and 51 new lofts in a glass tower above and around it.
Starting early next month, purchasers can select from one- |and two-bedroom models between 451 and 1,132 square feet. "The apartments are smaller in scale and price points [and] are very attractive to young, first-time buyers and investors," Mr. Lamb says.
The authentic lofts will have new windows in the original openings and exposed brick walls in some cases. The newly constructed lofts will offer floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies.
"We've tried to keep everything as open as possible," Mr. Walji says of all the layouts. "So you have large sliding doors to open up space for a den or bedroom."
Among the upgraded finishes and features that will be standard are nine-foot ceilings, engineered hardwood floors, high-gloss kitchen cabinetry and quartz countertops.
The monthly fee will be 45 cents a square foot, which, among other things, will cover the maintenance of a party room with a terrace and a proposed green space above.
Parking and lockers will be available.
