Category Archives: 650 Bay Street

Winter photo walks: Bay/College area Part 3

SickKids Research & Learning Tower

February 13 2012: South view of the SickKids Research & Learning Tower, which has climbed to 19 storeys on its way to its final height of 21.

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SickKids Research & Learning Tower

February 13 2012: Ground-level view from the SE corner of Bay & Elm

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SickKids Research & Learning Tower

February 13 2012: Looking up the tower’s southeast corner

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SickKids Research & Learning Tower

February 13 2012: Curved floors on the tower’s east side, above Bay Street, show where six uniquely-designed atriums will provide light-filled meeting spaces

 

SickKids Research & Learning Tower

January 29 2012: The SickKids Research & Learning Tower dominates this view, looking north from the intersection of Bay and Dundas Streets

 

650 Bay Street Toronto

February 13 2012: On the south side of Elm Street across from the SickKids Tower, renovation work continues on the 3-storey brick building at 650 Bay Street …

 

650 Bay Street Toronto

… where a soup, salad and sandwich café called Sliced is expected to open soon on the ground floor’s freshly-refurbished north side

 

650 Bay Street Toronto

… while renovation is ongoing to ready the south side for another business that has leased the premises. A boutique hotel will occupy the upper levels.

 

Two corners, two projects: While just about everybody in the city keeps talking about all the condo towers rising on the skyline, two projects at the intersection of Bay & Elm Streets show that Toronto’s building boom extends far beyond residential building construction.

 

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Renovations will transform seedy budget motel into trendy boutique hotel at corner of Bay & Elm

650 Bay Street

650 Bay Street, seen  Sunday, was previously a budget motor inn…


650 Bay Street

…but after extensive renovations will reopen as a boutique hotel


From sketchy to trendy: A dilapidated budget hotel at the southwest corner of Bay and Elm Streets is undergoing a top-to-bottom transformation, and will re-enter the city’s hospitality market as a trendy boutique hotel. 

The former Bay Street Motel at 650 Bay Street had been looking down-at-the-heel in recent years, and most of the people I saw going in and out looked equally sketchy. I’ve never been inside and, given the seedy look of the hotel and its clientele, never considered recommending it to out-of-town visitors seeking bargain accommodations. Although it offered reasonable rates and an excellent location, the place looked like a dive, and not surprisingly received poor reviews on travel websites. I always assumed the run-down building would get demolished and replaced by a condo tower, and when it appeared that the hotel had closed in late 2010, I kept expecting to see a development proposal sign posted outside.

Instead, I saw renovation activity, and noticed that the windows had been replaced. On Sunday, the sounds of hammering and drilling on the premises echoed two blocks up Bay Street, and I could see several contractors working on the roof and carrying renovation debris to a dumpster at the south end of the building.

When I got home, I did a quick Internet search and discovered that the building is being completely refurbished and converted into a boutique hotel. As described in a featured listing on Toronto real estate agent Addy Saeed’s website, 650 Bay “is currently undergoing an exterior and interior renovation and will re-open as one of Toronto’s most trendy boutique style hotels.”

The website says “[p]remium ground floor space is currently available and suitable for entertainment, retail, hospitality and food services,” while plans to create “Toronto’s largest rooftop patio” are underway. Saeed told me that the building owner still hasn’t chosen a name for the new hotel. Meanwhile, the renovation completion date and hotel opening are up in the air pending the search for a commercial tenant to run the food services operation, which Saeed said “could be a nice take out or sit in restaurant as well.” 

Once the weather improves, the building will start getting a new limestone facade; Saeed says that work should be finished by summer. I’m glad to see the old brick building being spruced up and given a new lease on life. If the renovations restore the small building’s charm and character, I’m sure the boutique hotel will do brisk business  — especially since its prime location is just a short walk from downtown shopping, hospitals, universities and offices.

650 Bay is just one of many properties bustling with construction activity in the immediate vicinity. One major building going up right across Elm street is the 21-storey SickKids Research and Learning Tower, while condo, apartment, university, and other hospital construction projects are all in progress or launching soon within less than a five-minute walk.

Below is an artistic rendering that appears on Saeed’s website, illustrating how the hotel should look after the renovations, along with several more pics I have taken showing the 650 Bay exterior viewed from several different angles.

 

650 Bay boutique hotel

An artistic rendering, provided by the building owner, which suggests how the 650 Bay boutique hotel will look with a new limestone facade.


650 Bay Street

650 Bay viewed from northeast corner of Bay and Elm Streets


650 Bay Street

Building viewed from the southeast corner of Bay & Elm


650 Bay Street

A contractor carries a sheet of plywood past the building…


650 Bay Street

…to a dumpster in the parking lot at the building’s south end


650 Bay Street

New windows were installed in the building recently


650 Bay Street

This photo from November 9 2010 shows 650 Bay Street, left, and two cranes on the SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction site


SickKids Research & Learning Tower

SickKids Research & Learning Tower construction on February 20 2011