drum118
Superstar
The answer here is they paid for a chunk of the land that TIFF owned, and construction was not encumbered in anyway.
Building over a subway station costs extra. If they have the choice to build 50m away or directly overtop, 50m away is by default the cheaper option.
They're not going to pay extra in construction costs + extra to the city to build over a subway station without some significant benefit; such as being able to build 1000 units instead of 500 units due to zoning differences. The city can and does sell excess density frequently for a price (section 37 funds); subways don't need to be involved for that.
The DRL through downtown might be different as the city might find commercial partners willing to pay $50M ($20M to the city, $30M to the construction contractor) in exchange for $2/sqft from their customers and $10/sqft at PATH level; but condos don't get a premium from end-buyers for subway connected versus subway adjacent. For a station like Leslie or Sheppard, there is absolutely zero benefit to the developer.
Eglinton Station has had a plan for development over it well before Eglinton LRT was proposed. TTC even had the land zoned for a half-dozen buildings. It's still a fenced in mess and unencumbered adjacent land is being sold and built on.
For this to work, the city will need to build the foundation for any overhead buildings as part of station construction at their own expense. This will probably add $40M to each station price and comes with the risk that it still may not sell at a price that breaks even.
One only has to look at the amount of foundation work that has to be done to protect the existing tunnel for the University line under the Exhibit site. There is no parking levels under the building since the site is too small for one.
The extra COST to protect the subway tunnel is past onto the buyer at a higher cost/ft than it normal would be for one with out the protection requirement.
The plan TTC had for the foundation of the old Eglinton bus terminal for a new development above it will change for the better with the LRT in the picture now. There will be far less bus bays there now with the LRT replacing the Eglinton Buses and cheaper to build it.
The Down side to the cost saving is the existing station will have to be move north for better transferring between the 2 lines with most of that cost being pickup by Metrolinx. It will mean 2 years plus of no service on the Yonge lines on the weekend with some closures lasting a week.
Looks at what taking place in New York for building over a Live yard and line. End results is better land use and more property tax income for the city. Same thing taking place in Europe these days.
All land around all the new station should be protected for future development above them with the station entrance being part of the ground level. In some cases, foundation should be built for future development to allow fast construction of it at a low disruption to riders. Yes it will require extra funds to build the foundation that may no come, but for the ones that have the highest potential of seeing development over time will pay for the ones that don't see any.
One only has to look at Emerald City to see where TTC greed cost them income by not having the development over the entrance and part of the development. An eye sore.