An owner of a popular downtown Toronto restaurant has decided to transform his establishment into a nightclub to fulfill a passion project and create a space for his generation.
Forth Space Inc. owner Sanjay Singhal has recently renovated his South American-inspired establishment previously known as Marked restaurant into a nightclub called Runway 06, located at Queen and John streets.
He even posted a video on TikTok this week revealing the new renovations.
@sanjaysaysofficial PART 3 of how I turned my restaurant Marked into RUNWAY06 ✈️ @runway06toronto Come check it out this week? 👀 #torontoclubs #kingwesttoronto #runway06 ♬ original sound – Sanjay Says
The new nightclub aims to create a new entertainment space for Generation X’ers looking for a blast in the past with a modern twist.
Singhal, who is a restaurant and tech entrepreneur known for creating cocktail bars Coffee Oysters Champagne and À toi., decided to remodel Marked due to financial factors, and turn it into a passion project for a new nightclub.
However, upon his announcement on TikTok, many were surprised to hear one of their favourite restaurants has come and gone.
“But why?…everyone loved Marked…not a fan of this at all,” one TikTok user said.
“This was my favorite brunch spot in Toronto,” another user said.
“Whyyy it was one of my fave restaurants!” another user commented.
Singhal says he was never highly interested in owning a restaurant, and that it’s always been his dream to own a nightclub and not just any nightclub, but a place where those similar to his age can belong. So, $400,000 and several renovations later, Runway 06 was born.
“It wasn’t just making a nightclub because I want to have a nightclub. There was a type of nightclub that Toronto used to have that it doesn’t have anymore. So, in its heyday, Lucid and CiRCA on John Street, right beside where we are now,” Singhal said in an interview with Now Toronto on Wednesday.
“More recently, Brant House, which then became Citizen, were popular nightclubs where adults could go and party and those disappeared. It’s a bifurcated market where King West is overrun by 19 year olds. And then there’s the Bay Street kind of bottle service crowd that likes to go out and spend money and show off,” he continued.
He goes on to say that people who are in their 30s or 40s who want to go out dancing amongst a safe and glamorous crowd and listen to music they grew up with cannot do that anymore because a space like that no longer exists.
“I wanted that place specifically and bringing back the kind of place that I would visit in a beach house or Miami or Las Vegas. When I go to these cities, I’ll party with people in their 30s and 40s from Toronto, but they will come back to Toronto and there’s no place for them,” Singhal explained.
Runway 06 acts as a multi-use entertainment venue, with a name centered around an aviation theme. Singhal calls this new club a “continuous visual spectacle” because it features numerous elements for amusement. And the best part, he aims to keep drink prices fairly accessible and affordable.
“You can go and be entertained, even if you don’t want to get up and dance. We have dancers, to lounge singers to popular DJs. We have a giant screen, we have lasers, we have all of the stuff that’s associated with nightclubs,” he said, just without the younger crowd.
When it comes to music, he says people can expect remixed hits from the past (80s, 90s, early 2000’s) interspersed with modern tunes. Singhal emphasizes the two comments he enjoys hearing the most from people who walk in.
“First is this doesn’t feel like I’m in Toronto and the second one is, ‘Oh, my God, my friends, there’s a place for us again,’ because we have this 360 area which is half outdoors, half indoors, it’s a very Miami or Mexican feel to it,” he said.
Runway 06 launched more than a week ago and since then, the space has been booked and busy. Singhal says the party usually gets going on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 9 p.m and every night of the week, the club will highlight different DJs, lounge singers and entertainers.
He hopes the new space can invoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort for people his age and serve as a flexible venue for any type of occasion.
Runway 06 is located at 132 John St. It opens at 5 p.m Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 4 p.m Thursdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. on weekends.
