Ambitious plans for future of Water's Edge Event Centre

Rendering for plans at the Waters Edge building on Riverside Drive in Windsor, Ont. (Source: Larry Horwitz)

A decade ago, property developer Larry Horwitz purchased the century-old Our Lady of the Rosary Church and turned it into the Water’s Edge Event Centre – now he’s looking forward to the next decade.

Wednesday, Horwitz unveiled artist renderings of a planned boutique hotel, apartments, convention centre, craft brewery, health spa and atrium at the site – in addition to the historic structure already there.

“What I envision for the Water’s Edge is something like the armouries in London,” he says.

“If you’ve been there, they’ve taken a massive historical structure, saved it and made it into a beautiful complex.”

Plans for the project – dubbed Distillery Place – are still in very early stages.

Horwitz doesn’t yet have a timeline or cost estimate (but says it will be in the millions), but he does have enthusiasm.

“We’ve progressed fairly quickly in the right direction and we’re excited. We’re excited about this project,” he says.

Plans will be taken to city hall to talk about incentives from the community improvement plan.

“If the city works well with us, and we’ve always had good relationships with the city in the past, this could be a really sweet project for Windsor and for Essex County,” says Horwitz.

He says no events already scheduled for the space will be impacted as plans progress.