Why this Toronto hotel developer is adding purpose-built rentals to a new downtown location - Toronto Star

Hotels have long mixed with condos, but the condo crash has builders seeking a winning formula to survive the downturn.

A rendering for the proposed mixed-use development at 689 King St. W., which would include both hotel suites and purpose-built rentals.

A hotel builder is adding purpose-built rentals to a proposal for a downtown hotel, a plan that one expert says showcases how developers are hunting for a winning real-estate formula following Toronto’s condo crash.

The Manga Hotel Group initially planned to just build a hotel at 689 King St. W., near Bathurst Street, according to chief executive officer Sukhdev Toor. But after the province and city moved to encourage more density close to the planned Ontario Line, the group changed the proposal to include purpose-built rentals.

“It works for us,” he said. “We have control on both pieces of business.” 

If approved by the city, the 30-storey luxury building will be called the Miila and is expected to open in 2029, Toor said. It will feature 251 hotel suites and a restaurant over the first 13 storeys, and 160 rental units on the floors above. The rentals will be one-to-three-bedroom options, ranging from 650 to 1,300 square feet.

The company has used this formula before. In 2024, it opened a building with both hotel suites and rentals at 203 Jarvis St., at Shuter Street. It now has a 95 per cent occupancy rate, Toor said.