It has been a couple years now since the implosion of the controversial Sidewalk Labs proposal for the redevelopment of Toronto’s Quayside community, one of the last remaining expanses of undeveloped land on the central stretch of the City’s waterfront, but with an exciting new plan redevelopment, the prospects for the site are looking brighter than ever. 

Earlier this year, Waterfront Toronto, the majority owners of the 12-acre site, announced that they had selected a development team to partner with on the ambitious city-building endeavour, awarding the opportunity to the collective of Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf operating under the name Quayside Impact Limited Partnership. Since that February announcement, negotiations to finalize a deal with Quayside Impact have been ongoing — that is, until just last week, when Waterfront Toronto approved the agreement and now have an official development partner. 

Looking northwest towards Quayside, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

Now officially on board, Quayside Impact and Waterfront Toronto can begin formalizing proposals to submit to the City for buildings from the competition submission concept plan, which featured a vivid set of renderings for buildings at the west end of the site, with designs from an illustrious pool of architects made up of David Adjaye Associates, Alison Brooks Architects, and Henning Larsen Architects.

Winter scene at the foot of the Western Curve building, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

The team’s submission impressed Waterfront Toronto with several standout elements, many of which have now been baked into the newly signed agreement as a set of commitments with numbers attached: the community will bring 3.5 acres programmed as public space, the entirety of the project will be a low-carbon development, and will ultimately offer at least 800 affordable rental units, delivered incrementally throughout the various stages of development. 

Looking over the urban forest planned in the Quayside development, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

Referring to the overall plan for the 12-acre, L-shaped site, the first proposals numbered 1 through 5 will put forward three buildings, an urban farm, and an urban forest to begin the phased development of the community. Two of the first three buildings are slated to be towers, referred to as the Western Curve (1) designed by Alison Brooks Architects, and the Overstory (3) designed by Henning Larsen Architects, while the third building, the Timber House (2) designed by David Adjaye Associates, will be a timber-framed mid-rise with an exceptionally long floor-plate, making it the largest timber building in Canada. 

Site plan indicates the extent of the Quayside site, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

While the plan outlines another three towers (6) and a cultural centre (7), those buildings will be developed in subsequent phases following architectural competitions slated to determine who will design them.

The Timber House would become the largest timber building in Canada, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

The development of the Quayside community is also intrinsically connected to Waterfront Toronto’s ongoing project of creating a dynamic and continuous waterfront that serves the people of this City. In this way, a significant aspect of the Quayside project is its ability to reconfigure the public realm and integrate itself into the larger waterfront. Currently, the way Waterfront Toronto hopes to accomplish this is through the activation of the former industrial shipping channel known as the Parliament Slip, and the creation of 'Silo Park' — named for the Victory Soya Mills silos, immediately adjacent on the next property to the east — which will also be the subject of a design competition to be launched soon. 

Looking north at the draft plan to activate Parliament Slip, image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.

Related Companies:

Dream Unlimited, Great Gulf, Grounded Engineering Inc., Urban Strategies Inc.