Toronto waterfront could get a floating hotel that puts Captain John’s to shame

Toronto’s waterfront has not quite been the very same since the venerable Captain John’s Seafood Restaurant was towed from its moorings at the foot of Yonge Avenue. Quite a few would argue that the elimination of the hulking rusted vessel was a substantial advancement, but it seems like Toronto’s waterfront could possibly soon get a new floating landmark, outlined in a modern entry in the city’s Lobbyist Registry.

The registration — a prerequisite for all lobbyists interacting with politicians and staff — reveals that a corporation is “hunting for acceptance from the acceptable officials to be able to dock and run a resort on the waterfront, maybe in between York Quay and Ontario Location.”

It is super obscure, but based on the wording, it can be harmless to suppose that this lodge would float, although a bit more durable to guess whether or not this detail will transfer about the lake like a cruise ship or sit mired in harbour silt like its predecessor in Captain John’s.

In a discover uncovered by city information analyst Matt Elliott in his City Corridor Watcher publication, it is described that Benjamin Levitt of Stosic & Associates is lobbying for Tayrona Funds, a company identified for their Sagana Hotels & Resorts chain working in extra than 16 international locations which includes tropical areas like Thailand, Maldives, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Colombia.

The Harbour Metropolis cruise ship-themed resort in Melaka is a single of Tayrona’s flagship projects. Rendering by Tayrona Funds by using Matt Elliott.

Amongst Tayrona’s large strategies is the Habour Town enhancement in Melaka, Malaysia, which the enterprise procured for $323 million. It consists of a lodge with a cruise ship-themed style and design and facilities, nevertheless there are indications that the challenge has faced fiscal hurdles due to the fact its acquisition.

Not much else is recognised about Tayrona or Sagana, which operates its Canadian company out of a storefront at the foundation of a 2015-created condominium sophisticated on Yonge Avenue in Richmond Hill, a decal in its window boasting (in all caps) of “much more than 1,000 ultra lavish hotels all over the world.”

Regardless of what the business options to build, invest in, float, moor, or whatsoever, it is possible to be proposed on a vacationer-major stretch of Toronto’s waterfront, among York Quay and Ontario Place.

Captain John’s may possibly be the first comparison that arrives to brain when talking about the central waterfront, but the possible Ontario Place location would stand as a callback to the times when the HMCS Haida was moored at the web-site, a prolonged-long gone tourist draw since relocated to the Hamilton waterfront.