Freed Developments Announces 5-Star Luxury Hotel And Residences Project, An $800M Skyscraper Set To Transform The Toronto Skyline

Visionary real estate developer Peter Freed of Freed Developments announces first-ever Freed Hotel and Residences tower located at Adelaide and Duncan, just west of University. This $800M skyscraper will bring both Katsuya by Sam Nazarian's Disruptive Group by sbe and artwork by renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to Toronto. Designed by Chicago-based tall building experts Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, renowned for the next world's tallest and most luxurious skyscraper Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, as well as Central Park Tower in New York, the project will feature 100 five star luxury hotel rooms and 400 luxury condominiums with a world class Skybar/restaurant on the 63rd floor, boutique spa, and a 10,000 sq ft Katsuya Restaurant on the 2nd floor. .

Sam Nazarian's sbe, the leading lifestyle hospitality company that develops, manages and operates world-class restaurants, lounges and nightclubs, is proud to announce the much-anticipated upcoming opening of the very first Katsuya restaurant in Canada on the second floor of the Freed Hotel and Residences, expected to launch in Fall 2028. This announcement follows Nazarian's 2020 sale of Nazarian's hospitality brand and management platform which included over 100 hotels (SLS, Delano, Mondrian and Hyde, among others), more than 150 restaurants and lounges, and over $4 billion of luxury residential sales. sbe's Katsuya is a groundbreaking fusion that ignited a new sushi trend that swiftly spread throughout the culinary industry with locations in Dubai, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and The Bahamas. This restaurant will mark the first location in Canada and the 12th globally. The menu, curated by Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi, who merges the elegance of Japanese cuisine with modern techniques and flavors, will feature staples from the 20-year tradition of excellence that has brought Katsuya international acclaim, and new dishes imagined specially for Toronto.

Sam Nazarian, Founder and CEO, sbe stated, "We are so thrilled to be bringing the iconic Katsuya brand to Canada for the first time with Peter Freed and his best-in-class team at Freed Developments. Katsuya is going to be a destination for locals, hotel guests and residents alike, and we cannot wait to share Chef Katsuya's contemporary Japanese culinary experience with the discerning people of Toronto."

In addition, artist Takashi Murakami's captivating artwork Together with the Flower Parent and Child will be featured prominently in the lobby of the first-ever Freed Hotel and Residences launching in Toronto. Artist Takashi Murakami is celebrated globally for his groundbreaking contributions to contemporary visual culture. Murakami's most iconic motif, the flower, takes on the role of a parent and child holding hands and standing in synchronicity.

"As the largest owner and operator of the Ontario hotel and resorts portfolio, this project is a testament to my profound love for Toronto. Freed Hotel and Residences represents a groundbreaking moment for Freed Developments with the opportunity to merge art, culture, and sophistication through hotel-style living," says Peter Freed, Founder and CEO, Freed Developments. "Building on Freed's 30 year legacy of best-in-class projects, Freed Hotel and Residences will proudly display a captivating piece of artwork by Takashi Murakami, adding a unique cultural dimension to this venture, while also bringing forward the first-ever Katsuya Restaurant to Canada which will further enhance the city's culinary landscape, and best-in-class hotel experiences for both residences and guests."

"Freed Hotel and Residences will bring an unprecedented sophistication and luxury that is a signature of Freed Developments in Toronto. Located at the corner of Adelaide and Duncan Streets, the tower will offer residents and visitors spectacular views of the city and Lake Ontario. The tower shines against the city's already impressive skyline, becoming an instant icon." says AS+GG Partner Gordon Gill, FAIA. "The formal geometry of the tower is defined by both its arrival and skyline expressions. Diamond shaped facets create a distinctive arrival and retail experience at street level, while the complimentary faceted silhouette of the tower's top creates an iconic identity within the Toronto skyline. The tower boasts luxurious hotel and residential functions with abundant amenities including terraced, outdoor garden spaces."

Toronto's DesignAgency leads the interior design of Freed Hotel and Residences. In harmony with the contemporary architecture and landmark Murakami sculpture, the interiors will bring together a creative collection of spaces and amenities that transport residents and hotel guests into magical, fun, and exciting worlds of design. Melding moments of poetic simplicity and dramatic juxtapositions of colour, mood and scale, the identity-defining interiors will express a feeling of transformational luxury that embodies the project's iconic aspirations.

"Freed Hotel and Residences is already an iconic project. By assembling a world-class creative team, Peter Freed has set the stage for innovation and imagination on a grand scale. Together with these exceptional collaborators, DesignAgency is excited to explore new realms of possibility to create immersive interiors that exude great wonder and style," says Anwar Mekhayech, Founding Partner, DesignAgency.

For over 30 years, Freed Developments has been changing the face of Toronto with its unique brand of experience-based developments, with over $10B of developed projects completed. Freed's portfolio includes luxurious modern condominium projects, F&B ventures, resort communities, and commercial spaces, led by the Founder and CEO Peter Freed. Freed Developments has been recognized for some of the most successful and iconic buildings in Toronto, including the Art Shoppe Lofts and Condos in collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld, Seventy5 Portland with globally renowned designer Philippe Starck, Fashion House on King Street West, and the iconic Thompson Hotel. In addition, Freed Hotel & Resorts is now the largest owner and operator of hotel and resort communities in Canada, which includes properties at Muskoka Bay Resort, Deerhurst Resort, Horseshoe Resort, and Blue Mountain Resort. Stay tuned for further updates here as Freed at Blue Mountain will be coming soon to The Village at Blue Mountain

The Freed Hotel and Residences is scheduled to begin sales in March 2024 and will be located at 240 Adelaide Street West. Potential buyers can expect a diverse range of units ranging from 270 sq.ft. to over 9,800 sq.ft. For further information on Freed Developments, head to: https://www.freeddevelopments.com/

Film Festival Season Carries On In Toronto, Despite A Star-Power Outage

When the Hollywood actors union announced a strike this summer, Cameron Bailey, the longtime chief executive of the Toronto International Film Festival, dusted off his COVID-19 playbook.

For two years, TIFF, the largest film festival in North America, had maneuvered through pandemic editions that persevered, one way or another, through travel restrictions, social distancing measures and other upheavals. Now, TIFF was faced with a sudden eclipse of star power.

“This is the nature of running a festival,” Bailey says. “You have to respond to what the year gives you. We have good experience from recent years in terms of handling how the COVID pandemic affected us. And we put some of those same measures at the beginning of the news about the actors strike.”

Some performers are still coming to the 48th annual TIFF, which opens Thursday night with Hayao Miyazaki’s long-awaited “The Boy and the Heron.” Filmmakers will be present. Documentaries and their subjects will still there. Independent productions have the chance of securing interim agreements from SAG-AFTRA.

But the biggest film festivals depend on having red carpets flush with stars. And it’s not only about the photo opportunities. Films come to a festival like Toronto looking to make as big a splash as possible, and announce themselves to moviegoers and Oscar voters.

A movie like “The Pain Hustlers” could have expected to cause quite a stir. Directed by “Harry Potter” filmmaker David Yates, it boasts a starry cast led by Emily Blunt and Chris Evans as pharmaceutical drug reps in the early days of the opioid epidemic.

“It is a shame that they’re not going to be with us when we premiere in Toronto, but it is what it is. These are seismic times,” says Yates. “Yes, I will miss the actors. Obviously, they really help. But I think they’re doing the right thing at the right time. We support them, but we’ll miss them.”

The dual strikes have already taken the spotlight at the Venice Film Festival. Lead juror Damien Chazelle wore a writers guild shirt to the opening press conference. Adam Driver, who stars in the independently made Michael Mann film “Ferrari,” wondered why “a smaller distribution company like Neon and STX can meet the dream demands of what SAG is asking for … but a big company like Netflix and Amazon can’t?”

But most stars have simply stayed home. Even though Bradley Cooper could have come to Venice as a director for his Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro,” in which he also stars, Cooper elected not to hit the Lido with his Oscar contender.

Word is still getting out on many of the breakout films. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” was a sensation in Venice. Out of the recent Telluride Film Festival, which has always focused more on movies themselves than the circus of larger festivals, Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin” and Andrew Haig’s “All of Us Strangers” have been much celebrated.

At Toronto, Bailey grants the absence of actors has a cascading effect on other parts of the festival — the amount of media that makes the trip, the number of industry members on hand and the press junkets that fill up hotel floors throughout downtown Toronto. But, he notes, the films stay the same.

“What
we found was that in terms of the lineup and our audience’s interest in seeing the films, very little changed,” says Bailey. “We’re on track to match or even better last year’s audience numbers.”
But less star power inevitably means less buzz. And Toronto is arguably the premier buzz factory in movies. Because — unlike Cannes or Venice — TIFF audiences are packed with moviegoers and not just industry people, Toronto has an enviable record of hosting both the best in global cinema and crowd-pleasing hits. Its top award, the audience award, is voted on by attendees. Year after year, that winner has gone on to be a best-picture nominee, whether “Green Book,”“Nomadland” or last year’s “The Fabelmans.”

What might pop this year? Craig Gillespie’s “Dumb Money,” an entertaining portrayal of the GameStop stock frenzy, should be a hit with TIFF audiences. Gillespie, whose feature debut “Lars and the Real Girl” premiered at TIFF and whose “I, Tonya” was the most sought-after acquisition of the 2017 festival, knows what a warm reception in Toronto can mean for a movie.

“The crowd, they’re so receptive,” Gillespie says. “And it’s such a great atmosphere.”

To him, “Dumb Money” — a farcical tale of high-finance rebellion starring Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson and America Ferrera — in some ways reflects the battles actors and screenwriters are waging with Hollywood studios.

“The irony is that the message of our movie — which is so much about the discontent going on in our country with the wealth disparity — is timely,” says Gillespie. “We’re so in the thick of this commentary that’s going on in our society.”

With Hollywood in a pitched, existential battle over pay, streaming economics and artificial intelligence, some of those who are free to attend festivals are still hesitant to do so. Two weeks ago, SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland encouraged members to work in projects with an approved interim agreement “and applaud them for promoting their work in these productions.”

Crabtree-Ireland was expected to walk the red carpet Thursday for TIFF’s opening night. On Friday, SAG-AFTRA is set to hold a rally in downtown Toronto.

Among the stars expected at TIFF are Sean Penn, Dakota Johnson, Jessica Chastain, Willem Dafoe, Nicolas Cage and Finn Wolfhard — all of whom are bringing projects with interim agreements. The festival has also notably programmed a number of films directed by actors, including Viggo Mortensen’s “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” Kristin Scott Thomas’ “North Star,” Michael Keaton’s “Knox Goes Away,” Ethan Hawke’s “Wildcat” and Anna Kendrick’s “Woman of the Hour.”

Toronto programmers have also leaned into music. The documentaries “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero,” “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” and “Hate to Love: Nickelback” will premiere, as will a new restoration of the classic Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense.”

Some of TIFF’s hottest tickets include Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad,” Jessica Yu’s “Quiz Lady” and Cannes prize winners including “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Fallen Leaves” and “Zone of Interest.”

With stages mostly bereft of stars, more attention may go to young filmmakers breaking through. Cord Jefferson, an award-winning TV writer of “The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore,” “Succession” and “Watchmen,” will premiere his directing debut “American Fiction,” an adaptation of Percival Everett’s “Erasure,” starring Jeffrey Wright.

“I’ve loved movies since I was child and I’ve never been to a film festival before,” says Jefferson. “Even the idea that I’m going to a film festival with a film that I’ve directed feels surreal. I can’t comprehend it fully yet.”

“It’s a dream come true, literally,” he adds. “I’m just excited to be amongst other filmmakers.”

Source: https://apnews.com/author/jake-coyle

Toronto Pearson First Airport In North America To Receive Airport Council International Accessibility Accreditation

On December 6, 2022, Toronto Pearson International Airport became the first airport in North America and second in the world to receive the Airports Council International (ACI) accreditation under the Accessibility Enhancement Accreditation (AEA) program, a first-of-its-kind program dedicated to airport accessibility.

"As the largest airport in Canada, we are leading the way in providing equal, respectful, and professional treatment that extends to our passengers and our employees," said Deborah Flint, President and CEO, Greater Toronto Airports Authority. "We are proud to be the first airport in North America, and the second airport globally, to receive this accreditation with ACI. While we are proud of this recognition, our entire ecosystem plays a role, and we will champion accessibility with our partners and advocate until there is joy from the beginning to the end of everyone's travel experience."

ACI's AEA program launched earlier this year and provides a continuous path of improvement for airports in accessibility and passengers with disabilities, including people with physical and non-apparent disabilities.

"At Pearson, accessibility is about creating an experience that enables everyone to participate fully in the exploration of travel, as well as the enjoyment of reuniting with friends and family," said Kurush Minocher, Director, Passenger Experience and Development, Greater Toronto Airports Authority. "We thank ACI for recognizing our efforts, but more importantly our partners in accessibility that helped make this possible. I am truly appreciative of the hard work and dedication of our collective teams as we embark on a journey to become the most accessible airport in the world."

The program is based on existing international best practices and recommendations, including those in the ACI Airport and Persons with Disability Handbook, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and Universal Design concepts.

About the Greater Toronto Airports Authority

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is the operator of Toronto – Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Canada's largest airport and a vital connector of people, businesses and goods. Toronto Pearson has been named "Best Large Airport in North America serving more than 40 million passengers" for five years in a row by Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade representative of the world's airports. In recognition of its Healthy Airport program, ACI has also awarded Toronto Pearson the "Best hygiene measures in North America" award for three years running, and Toronto Pearson was the first Canadian airport to receive ACI's global health accreditation for its response to COVID-19.

For operational updates and passenger information, please visit @TorontoPearson/@AeroportPearson on Twitter.

Ontario Sets Fines For Social Gatherings Due To New Coronavirus Cases

TORONTO — Canada’s largest province will fine people who hold social gatherings in defiance of new limits.

Ontario reported 293 newly confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford blames such gatherings for spiking COVID-19 numbers in Toronto, Ottawa and a region just outside Toronto.

Starting Friday in those three areas, only 10 people will be allowed to gather indoors — down from the current limit of 25. The number for outdoor gatherings will drop to 25 from 100.

The penalty for organizers of events that violate the limits will be 10,000 Canadian dollars, or about $7,600 U.S. People attending the gatherings will be fined 750 Canadian dollars.

Ford says the new limits will not apply for restaurants, movie theaters or weddings held at banquet halls, where he says public health guidelines are being followed.