It was once a centrepiece of the economy in a General Motors-dominated town east of Toronto, and the redevelopment of the hotel property in Oshawa has become part of the city’s downtown revitalization story.

The Genosha Hotel first opened its doors in 1929 and welcomed numerous high-profile guests from business executives to politicians visiting the bustling city. Humming with activity, the building housed the bus terminal, radio station and several shops. The hotel was considered the centrepiece of downtown Oshawa, then considered to be “Canada’s Motor City.” As downtown’s social hub, The Genosha hosted banquets, weddings, dinners and dancing at its prominent corner location on King and Mary streets.

But suburban sprawl resulted in the slow decline of downtown Oshawa as the hotel went from luxury to a boarding house and finally a strip club before being abandoned in 2003.

The Genosha was saved from demolition due to a 2005 designated heritage status for its Chicago Art styling.

The property changed hands multiple times through failed attempts by developers to repurpose the property until Oshawa-based Summers & Co. Developments Inc., under the leadership of its founder and CEO Rick Summers, jumped in with a vision to restore the property’s status.

The project, now branded as the Market at 70King has earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for redevelopment in Toronto, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.

About the project: Summers & Co. implemented a plan to create 86 luxury rental units and a nine-restaurant culinary destination that would draw people back downtown. Working closely with Heritage Oshawa, the developer restored the exterior of The Genosha’s original brickwork. The bricked-in main floor was opened back to its original form, the original limestone cladding was recreated, and the upper give floors repurposed into a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental units.

In 2019, the units were fully leased, a rooftop solar farm was brought online, and cashflow stabilized, with the building refinanced to prepare for a nine-restaurant food hall.

While larger, more-established restaurant franchises would have offered more stabilized buildouts and leases, Summers adopted for local owner-operated restaurants, creating a diverse space that focused on attracting local business downtown.

To overcome skepticism of the downtown location and inspire belief in the viability of the overall project, Summers & Co. built out the base restaurant pods and hosted an exclusive pitch night that secured the first five leases, which allowed them to gain momentum and lease the remaining space.

The restaurant owners’ vision was coordinated with architectural, engineering and design packages. A particularly difficult element was crafting an exhaust hood system that serviced all restaurants while navigating an existing heritage structure and mitigating its impact on the final design aesthetic.

Summers & Co. also took on the roles of project management and general contracting on the buildout of each restaurant to ensure a coordinated grand opening.

A specialized elevator known by LULA was deployed to create fully accessible space. This elevator leads to basement preparation areas for the restaurants and a speak-easy-themed event space that references the prohibition period during which The Genosha was built.

Summers & Co. also worked with the city to reclaim a traffic lane to create two permanent sidewalk patios through an encroachment agreement.

The residential and commercial spaces are now fully leased, with a waiting list of restaurants seeking to join the building’s food hall.

Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter has widely praised this development declaring: “The Genosha Hotel redevelopment project is the last piece of the puzzle. Picking up where others failed, Summers & Co. has built on the success of their past projects in the city and revitalized the historic building, which I believe will be the cornerstone of downtown development.”

What the judges said: “This redevelopment is impactful and worthy of the award because it delivers a highly desirable mixed-use project at a significant scale and in a node that provides many community benefits. This project succeeded where others had failed in converting a very undesirable use into something more meaningful and beneficial for the city,” said Paul Macchione, senior vice president of Industrial with Cadillac Fairview Corp.

“A really good reuse of an older building in a challenged market (downtown Oshawa),” said Chris Langstaff, Canada head of research and strategy with LaSalle Investment Management.

“I know Oshawa well enough to remember the eyesore that used to be there. This is an excellent project. I love seeing the rejuvenation of this asset. I know the building and I am so happy to see it restored and reactivated. The kitchen area looks amazing,” said Allen Grinberg, principal at Avison Young.

“The Market at 70King is the most impactful of the projects we considered, from its history to its transformation to a mixed-use development in a much-needed area of downtown Oshawa. Taking influences from art deco Chicago brings vibrancy to the project. The revitalization of the downtown core has a direct impact on the larger community. Accessibility and sustainability are key themes that stand out in this development,” added Alanna Cantkier, national vice president of retail leasing at JLL.

They made it happen: The development team at Summers & Co. Developments Inc. that rescued The Genosha was led by CEO Richard Summers and included Jeff Steffen, chief operator officer, David Lee, director of operations of Summers & Co., as well as Joel Gerber, principal of Joel Gerber Architects; Michelle Peer, a principal of 2Co, Jude Kamal, Principal of Sansa Interiors, and Evan Kim, principal at EK Engineering.

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