Time passes, but quality architecture is enduring. Lifetime Developments and INK Entertainment’s Bisha Hotel and Residences project has been years in the making, but the hotel-condo tower is now starting to come together as construction progresses.
Crews are pouring the concrete structure for the underground parking garage. With the garage complete, the hotel and condo tower at 56 Blue Jays Way will quickly rise to shimmer on the Entertainment District’s southern skyline. The glass tower designed by architect Rudy Wallman will emerge from a red-brick podium, which will incorporate a heritage façade front and centre for the hotel’s main entrance. Fins will run the length of the tower to emphasize its verticality and to enliven its façade.
Though the podium’s red brick will contrast with the tower’s floor-to-ceiling glass, the podium and tower appear to be harmoniously integrated. Balconies are recessed to maintain the façade’s sleekness.
With 337 units and 41 storeys, Bisha is mainly a condo tower—the hotel will only take up a small part of the building. Suites range from a hotel-like 379 square foot studio to spacious 2554 square foot units with 2 bedrooms and a den. Units will have 9 foot high exposed concrete ceilings and kitchens with stainless steel appliances and contemporary cabinetry and backlashes custom designed by Munge Leung. Munge Leung will also design the bathrooms.
Boutique hotels aim to offer their guests an experience that mainstream hotels can’t touch. The Bisha Hotel and Residences will offer great amenities in a distinctive building. The tower will feature an exercise room, games room, business centre, rooftop terrace, restaurant, lounge, café, cabanas bar and concierge.
A short walk to King Street West and the Financial District, the location is particularly convenient for those working downtown and anyone who enjoys Toronto’s entertainment scene. The Bisha Hotel and Residences will stand minutes away from the Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre. The Theatre District is located a block north on King Street West.
Great public spaces like the recently renovated Clarence and David Pecaut squares are also located in close proximity. As a homegrown boutique hotel, the Bisha Hotel and Residences will be a high-profile building. Its condos will be a well-appointed retreat in the middle of it all.
