Developer Lines up Ambitious Redevelopment Project for Toronto’s Waterfront

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Toronto–News of a $560 million development initiative recently broke in Toronto, as an area of the city’s waterfront industrial area is set to be transformed into a new arts hub. The Daniels Corporation is heading the project that would create about 1.3 million square feet of space accommodating arts and media venues, as well as a housing component comprised by two residential towers.

Set to take shape on a plot of land that previously housed the country’s largest nightclub, the new development is intended to accommodate around 1,500 residents and create the context for roughly 5,000 jobs, Bloomberg Business writes. Large retail and office components will be part of the offering at the 1.32 million–square-foot waterfront project, set to be known as Daniels Waterfront – City of the Arts.

The project will feature two condominium high-rises of around 38 stories, and will total two entire city blocks, in the proximity of the city’s financial district. Units will start at the price of around $222,000, for 350 square feet. Part of the project’s aim to create a new arts community, the developers will build an outdoor events space located near a sugar factory and port, as well as a public walkway. The project will draw inspiration from similar initiatives involving remodeled waterfronts and will prominently feature brick and glass, part of its industrial neighboring.

The private venture will probe the possibility for future public projects aiming to rejuvenate Toronto’s waterfront, with the ultimate goal being to create a development boom in the styles of those seen in Boston and Vancouver. Those cities replaced their aging industrial waterfronts with a tech hub and a lifestyle district, respectively.