Shanghai-based megastructure developer Greenland Group (Canada) has big plans for downtown Toronto as it breaks ground today on King Blue, a mixed-use complex that will feature many firsts for Canada.

Plans will transform the historic Westinghouse site into a 122-key luxury boutique hotel, 44 and 48-storey residential skyscrapers and the country’s first theatre museum, including a revamp of the highest heritage façade ever retained in the nation.

King Blue, located at King Street West and Blue Jays Way, is Greenland Group’s first development as it forays into Canada’s real estate market.

“Canada has proven to be a strong real estate market for many years now and we envision a future here that allows us to contribute to this economic prosperity,” says Henry Cao, president of Greenland Group.

The creation of a 10,000-square-foot home for Theatre Museum Canada, a block from the TIFF Bell Lighthouse, will also represent the expansion of Canadian culture as a new centrepiece in the theatre district.

The seven-storey luxury hotel, Primus Toronto, will feature luxury suites, on-site conference areas and a rooftop terrace with pool and lounge, all to be fully owned and operated by Greenland Group (Canada).

B+H Architect’s design team CHIL by B+H will oversee designs for the hotel. Toronto-based teams IBI Group Architects/Page+Steele, B+H Architects and Munge Lounge will design public spaces focused on community gathering and vertical living.

“With frontage on the city’s most dynamic street in the entertainment district, King Blue is designed as a social hub,” says Alessandro Munge, principal of Munge Lounge. “A community within a community.”

EllisDon has been selected as construction managers. Occupancy is slated for 2018, with 910 residential units ranging from $299,000 to $1,000,000.