Vancouver developer just bought big chunk of Toronto real estate

One of Toronto's landmark buildings has just sold, but its future use remains up in the air now that it's in the hands of a Vancouver developer. Larco Investments has just bought the Dominion Public Building at 1 Front St. for the tune of $275 million.

When the historic building and former customs house hit the market back in January, there was speculation that a buyer might turn it into a mega development of some kind. 

Given that Larco has its hands in hotel and residential developments as well as retail and industrial projects, it's impossible at this point to sniff out what the future might look like for the building, but you can almost surely bet that the developer will hope to build atop it.

If there's a reason for concern — and to be fair this might be premature — much of the press Larco has received lately is for its controversial expansion of the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa. 

The project has been widely criticized for its lack of historical sensitivity, and despite promises to update plans in response to public feedback, the latest minor alterations have failed to mollify critics.

The Dominion Public Building has a whole slew of heritage protections, so you won't seen sweeping transformation of the building itself, but additions to the site are more than likely.

Let's hope they're better received than those in Ottawa.

by Derek Flack via blogTO