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Artist’s rendering of potential future development on the site of the Toronto Don Valley Hotel and Suites, which is being sold by Allied Hotel Properties. (Courtesy CBRE)
The Toronto Don Valley Hotel and Suites property, a prime potential redevelopment site located along Eglinton Avenue near the Don Valley Parkway, is being sold for $102 million.
The buyer is a group known as DVP Hotel Development LP, according to current owner Allied Hotel Properties Inc. (AHP-X), which issued a release Wednesday morning. The agreement remains subject to standard closing conditions as well as approval by Allied’s shareholders, the company said.
Closing is expected in January 2020.
The assets being sold include Allied’s Toronto Don Valley Hotel and Suites at 175 Wynford Dr., and adjacent lands. The property is about 5.42 acres.
The hotel itself, which is still in operation, comprises a six-storey, 353-room mid-rise tower including the Garden Cafe and DV Bar/Bistro, meeting rooms, a two-storey convention centre, a health club with exercise equipment, a whirlpool, saunas, steam rooms, indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The site contains 420 parking spots.
It also sits at the location of a future Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit stop.
Don Valley site development potential
The major attractiveness of the site is its development potential. The property received zoning approval in 2015 to permit the development of two residential towers comprised of just over 585,000 square feet.
A site plan application was submitted in 2018 which proposes 755 residential units in 32- and 39-storey towers along with parking, indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, and a restaurant. The plan would retain the guest room wings of the existing hotel, while repurposing its lobby and convention centre.
The new owner could explore potentially rezoning the site for additional residential density, CBRE Canada Land Services Group executive VP Mike Czestochowski told RENX in an interview when the property went on the sale block.
However, the property was being offered for sale based on its current zoning.
“There’s now a comprehensive development plan that a company can take on,” CBRE hotels executive vice-president BIllStone told RENX during the June interview. “They (Allied) are not traditional developers.”
Allied board approves sale
The release says Allied’s board of directors have unanimously approved the agreement. A special meeting of shareholders is being scheduled to vote on the transaction, the final property in Allied’s portfolio.
A management information circular is being prepared for shareholders and is expected to be mailed soon.
Though no final decision has been made, the release says Allied management is expecting to distribute the net proceeds to shareholders.
Allied Hotel Properties was formed in 1998 to amalgamate the hotel interests of its parent company, Allied Holdings Ltd.
Allied Holdings, based in Vancouver and founded by Peter Eng, has owned and developed commercial and residential real estate since 1968. Eng remains its board chairman.
The company has owned major hotels in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto including properties such as the historic 303-room Hotel Georgia in Vancouver (now Rosewood Hotel Georgia and Hotel Georgia Residences tower), the 438-room Delta Pacific Resort and Convention Centre (now Sandman Signature Hotel and Resort), the iconic 307-room Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe in Edmonton as well as the Don Valley property.
Allied was also a partner with Tridel in developing the 34-storey, 327-unit Accolade condominium tower in 2010. That property sits near the Don Valley hotel site at 181 Wynford Dr.
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