OK, in a previous post I said that the old method of expropriate, demolish and cut and cover was economically unrealistic today when homes cost $1,000,000, not $10,000. I still think this is true. However, in rare circumstances, it pays off to pay market price - or even above market price - to seize valuable land to build infrastructure where the alternative - closing multiple lanes of one of the busiest, and most important surface roads in the entire city - would actually lead to a productivity loss well in excess of what it would cost to expropriate homes.
I think it would have been much more beneficial to just buy out the residents of those townhomes on the northern side of Aerodrome Crescent, and demolish the properties to build the launch site there. Taking out 4 traffic lanes on Eglinton for several years is going to be a major disaster. I think we could have even afforded to give these people 1.5X market value, and also pay significant sums of money to the people living on the south side, who have to endure the noise, dust and debris.