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At a press event this morning at the East Harbour site near the foot of the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, representatives of the municipal and provincial governments gathered to announce that five Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs) have been handed down to the City to support the building of Transit Oriented Communities (TOCs) at five of the stations along the Ontario Line. While at the other four sites, the TOCs will be built by a private partner on land that the Ontario government is acquiring for building the stations, at East Harbour, the government has signed an agreement with private landowner Cadillac Fairview.
“Our government is addressing the housing supply crisis head-on,” said Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “This announcement is a testament to the strong partnership between our government and the City of Toronto. Today’s Minister’s Zoning Orders will help support transit-oriented communities while building approximately 7,000 much-needed new homes for Ontarians and their families.”
MZOs are a tool that quickly establish new zoning on a particular site, skipping the long Zoning By-law Amendment process that the vast majority of new building proposals in this city are subjected to. MZOs can be seen as friendly, when City Council has requested them from the Province to accelerate the redevelopment of a site that suits City policy, but can be seen as hostile when a City has not requested them. These MZOs are considered friendly, and Mayor John Tory was amongst those on hand for the event this morning, saying "Building more transit-oriented communities will be good for this city and good for our residents. As our governments move ahead with new transit projects, we must recognize the opportunities that exist to build more housing and public spaces and create places for people to work around transit stations. We will continue to work in close partnership with the Province to get more housing built and to meet the needs of the communities these transit projects are meant to serve. I am confident that together we will be able to increase both transit ridership and housing by providing places for people to live, work and play close to the future stations."
At 38 acres, the East Harbour site is significantly larger than the other four and will include the creation of a major employment centre with office and retail commercial space that is targeted for more than 50,000 jobs, as well as new residential space, community amenities, and park land. Of the 15 buildings of varying heights and tenure planned, a total of 4,300 units of housing would be located in several of those buildings, all within walking distance of the new transit hub to be served by GO Lakeshore East and Stouffville lines, the Ontario Line subway, and a new TTC streetcar line on a Broadview Avenue south extension.
MZOs were also created for transit-oriented communities at the future Corktown, Queen-Spadina, King-Bathurst, and Exhibition stations, which are being developed by Infrastructure Ontario (IO), with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), and Metrolinx. Private partners for these sites are being sought and will be announced in the future.
To acquire the sites, the Province has a couple models for the TOC Subways program, depending upon the nature of ownership at the site. Partnership Opportunities are sites where a developer with land holdings at the station and TOC site is willing into a TOC partnership with the Province. East Harbour is a Partnership Opportunity site. Collect and Compete is the name given to the other model, where in some cases expropriation may be needed if the government cannot first secure property through a sales transaction. The other four sites are Collect and Compete sites.
The proposed TOC at Exhibition Station will transform the area immediately north of the expanded station — served by GO Lakeshore trains, TTC streetcars, and the new Ontario Line — into a connected transit hub with new housing, office, and retail space that would support new jobs. The Exhibition TOC site consists of two land assemblies north of the station, lining either side of Atlantic Avenue.
The Exhibition Station development is anticipated to deliver approximately 568 residential units, expanding housing options by including affordable units. These will be complemented by high-quality communal indoor and outdoor amenity spaces which will act as an extension of personal living space, contributing to the well-being of residents and overall liveability of the area.
The proposed TOC at King-Bathurst Station also consists of two sites, one on either side of King on the east side of Bathurst. The sites, located along popular shopping and dining streets, are also served by King and Bathurst TTC streetcars. In addition to adding more housing and office space at the station, new construction above will also take into consideration the heritage components of the site, helping to maintain the character of the vibrant neighbourhood.
The King-Bathurst TOC development is anticipated to deliver approximately 422 new residential units, expanding housing options by including new and affordable units.
The proposed TOC at Queen-Spadina Station is also intended to support a similarly vibrant community, also served by two streetcars as well as the new Ontario Line, and provide more housing and retail space for businesses, while taking into consideration the heritage components of the site. The Queen-Spadina site consists of two blocks, to the southwest and the northeast of the intersection
The two proposed Queen-Bathurst TOC developments are anticipated to deliver approximately 217 residential units in total, expanding housing options by including affordable units. Similar to the Exhibition site, these will be complemented by high-quality communal indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, which are intended to act as an extension of personal living space.
The proposed TOC at Corktown Station will connect local bus, streetcar, and subway services to the Ontario Line and deliver a mix of new housing opportunities, commercial, retail, and community space, while commemorating the history of the First Parliament site. Here, parcels are to the west of Parliament Street on both sides of Front Street. The site of the first through third parliament buildings — once Toronto became capital of what was then the Province of Upper Canada — were on the south side of Front Street here.
The proposed TOC development at Corktown Station is anticipated to deliver approximately 1,580 residential units, including affordable units. Similar to the Exhibition and Queen and Spadina sites, these will be complemented by high-quality communal indoor and outdoor amenity spaces.
Ontario’s Transit Oriented Communities program will place more housing, including affordable housing, and jobs, at and around transit stations along the routes of the province’s four priority transit projects in the GTA, and across the existing GO rail network. This will help increase transit ridership, reduce gridlock, create an estimated 375,000 construction jobs for the entire Subways-Transit Oriented Communities program, and improve the quality of Torontonians’ lives.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been edited to better explain the acquisition process for the station and related TOC sites.
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