Sneaky Dee's saved from demolition after developer withdraws proposal
The Toronto dive bar has been assured a future after the Goldberg Group abandoned its 16-storey redevelopment plan at Bathurst and College.
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Sneaky Dee's, the iconic downtown Toronto dive bar, will not be demolished. Documents filed Friday with Toronto and East York Community Council show that the Goldberg Group has withdrawn its proposal for a 16-storey development at Bathurst and College streets, where the bar has operated for the past 36 years.
The developer offered no reason for the withdrawal, but a subsequent letter from Globe Realty Holdings Ltd.—a subsidiary of RBC—revealed a key obstacle. RBC owns a parcel of land included in the proposed development and said it has no agreement with the developer to sell. The bank also operates a retail branch at the site and intends to continue doing so, stating it objects to any official plan redesignation or zoning amendment on those lands.
Community members mounted a passionate defence of the bar at a City Hall meeting in late May. Local councillor Dianne Saxe had agreed to work with the group, though she cautioned that refusing the application wouldn't necessarily stop the developer—the Ontario Land Tribunal, she warned, often approves projects the city rejects.
