Paul Martin building hotel touted as a 'catalyst project for downtown'
CBC
Investment in downtown Windsor will result in more investment, says the chair of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association.
Chris MacLeod says Thursday's development announcement of the Paul Martin building will "be a catalyst project for downtown."
Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens announced on Thursday that of the proposals that the city received for the building, which currently houses the Central branch of the Windsor Public Library, the plan to convert it into a luxury hotel was the most appealing.
"When we explored the different opportunities and the impact that they would have downtown, this one we felt would have the highest impact in terms of the return on the investment," he said.
Once home to various government agencies, the federal government sold the building to the City of Windsor in 2015 for a dollar. The city will transfer the building to the developers, RM Group of Companies, for the same price. Dilkens says the transfer is conditional on the holding group following through with its $30-million investment plan.
RM Group of Companies also runs the Retro Suites Hotel in Chatham and the hotel manager, Jessica Myers, says the first guests are expected to stay in the Paul Martin Building in 2026.
MacLeod says the demand for a hotel room downtown is high.
"I had the opportunity to meet with one of our hoteliers a couple of weeks ago and it can be hard to get a room downtown," he says.
MacLeod says the fact that a building like this is still standing is significant.
"You would never build a building like this today," he said. "The exterior facade, the interior lobby, the use of marble, the ceilings and the light fixtures. It would be cost-prohibitive to build new this way.
"What's wonderful about the Retro Suites group and what they're going to do with this building is really preserving that history."
But there are other places to stay already downtown.
Michelle Falconio, the general manager of the Quality Inn & Suites, says the future hotel will draw a specific type of clientele, but admitted that any new investment made in the downtown core will help with the issues facing the neighbourhood.
The future hotel in the Paul Martin Building won't be the first luxury boutique hotel in Windsor-Essex.
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.
Daniel Jolivet, 68, had his first taste of freedom this weekend after spending the last 33 years behind bars.
Peguis First Nation is suing former chief Glenn Hudson over allegations he failed to act in the best interest of the band and financially benefitted from breaches of duty — including claims that he enriched himself, his family and supporters.