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Last Fall, the Government of Ontario announced their intention to sell off the LCBO headquarters' 11-acre site on Toronto's waterfront for private development, posting a request for proposals (RFP) from potential purchasers of the site. The initial phase of the RFP process officially closed on April 17th, and proposals for redevelopment are now being reviewed. These will be winnowed down to a shortlist of proponents who will be invited to submit bids later this Spring for the second stage of the RFP process.
The property in question includes the LCBO head offices at 55 Lake Shore Boulevard East, the LCBO warehouse at 43 Freeland Street, the LCBO retail store at 2 Cooper Street directly adjacent to Queens Quay, and parking lots and green space on the east side of Cooper Street. Though the land and buildings are to be redeveloped, the LCBO aims on keeping their head office in the vicinity. The purchaser of the land will need to provide space for a new LCBO head office downtown and a retail location along Queens Quay, if not on the site itself.
The Province intends to fund infrastructure improvements through the sale of this valuable property, and on April 16th moved to expand beer sales and sell a portion of Hydro One to similarly fund infrastructure development. The measures should inject approximately $4 billion into provincial coffers, to be spent through the Moving Ontario Forward plan.
"Building modern infrastructure and transportation networks is a vital component of our government’s plan to grow the economy. The sale of the LCBO head office lands will help support infrastructure projects that will spur job creation and productivity across Ontario", said Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. "This is an important step in the process, and I look forward to unlocking the true value of these lands, infrastructure investments that build Ontario up".
Once a winning bidder is chosen, the result is sure to be a transformative redevelopment proposal for the area. For now, you can join the discussion by visiting the associated Forum thread, or by leaving a comment in the space at the bottom of this page.
