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Today, the City of Toronto and CreateTO announced the selection of Kilmer Group and Tricon Residential as the winning team to transform the historic Toronto Coach Terminal sites at 610 Bay Street and the adjacent 130 Elizabeth Street with a mix of uses. The redevelopment will include 873 purpose-built rental homes, including 290 affordable units, as well as a new Toronto Paramedic Services Hub, public space, and will also include lab and office spaces to support employment within the Discovery District.
Featuring two residential buidings and a central public plaza, a volume of approximately 15 storeys in height is planned for 610 Bay Street, designed by Studio Gang Architects of Chicago. To the west at 130 Elizabeth Street will be a taller tower rising approximately 41 storeys, designed by architects—Alliance of Toronto.
Smoke Architecture of Hamilton is leading the project’s Indigenous vision under the principles of the Seven Directions. Mayor Olivia Chow highlighted the importance of this project in tackling Toronto’s housing challenges, stating, “This project sets a high bar for how we can build more homes while celebrating our city’s history and embracing Indigenous knowledge as we build new communities.” The design will also embrace sustainable innovations like a geothermal district energy system and green roofs, exceeding Tier 2 of Toronto Green Standards Version 4.
The redevelopment will deliver a mix of residential, employment, public, and heritage-focused uses. A Toronto Paramedic Services Hub, spanning 23,000 ft², will centralize emergency services for nearby neighbourhoods. The plan incorporates adaptive reuse of the historic terminal building and bus bays, ensuring the Art Deco landmark retains its place in Downtown Toronto.
With landscaping designed by Montreal-based CCxA, public realm features will include a tree-lined plaza designed as a community space, featuring "outdoor rooms" for social interaction. The public plaza is conceived as an "urban oasis" with landscaped spaces and pathways. It will be framed by tree-lined corridors that improve connectivity between Bay, Edward, and Elizabeth streets.
The Toronto Coach Terminal, built in 1931 and designed by British-Canadian architect Charles Dolphin, is a hallmark of Art Deco architecture in Toronto. For nearly a century, it connected Toronto to destinations across the country. However, as bus operations shifted to the Union Station Bus Terminal in 2021, the 130 Elizabeth Street building (below) has been covered with graffiti.
The original Coach Terminal building’s historical significance was recognized when it was added to the City’s heritage registry in 1987. The preservation and adaptive reuse of the Art Deco building is a central feature of the project, which Vic Gupta, CEO of CreateTO, emphasized. “The Toronto Coach Terminal has always been a place of connections, and CreateTO is proud to see that continue as this beautiful heritage building is redeveloped as part of a mixed-use community,” he said.
The redevelopment aligns closely with the objectives of Toronto’s ModernTO program, which aims to transform underused City-owned properties. Employment opportunities are another key focus, with plans for lab and office spaces intended for the Discovery District’s innovation-driven economy.
Ken Tanenbaum, Vice-Chairman of Kilmer Group, also expressed enthusiasm for the project’s potential. “This is an important city-building opportunity in the core of the city, and we look forward to working with our partners to deliver urgently needed affordable rental housing, a centralized paramedics hub, commercial space to support the surrounding Discovery District, and much more,” Tanenbaum remarked.
The redevelopment will unfold over the next several years. The first building at 610 Bay Street is expected to be completed and ready for lease-up by the first quarter of 2029. The tower, located at 130 Elizabeth Street, will follow closely, with completion and lease-up anticipated in the first quarter of 2030.
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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| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, CCxA, Tricon Residential |
