TORONTO REDEVELOPMENT A WORLD-CLASS OPPORTUNITY
Downsview site has significant potential to make most out of scarce, existing land, Murtaza Haider and Stephen Moranis say.
“The trouble with land is that they’re not making it anymore.”
The time-tested adage seems particularly relevant in Canada’s biggest real estate markets these days, where many an expert believes the scarcity of developable land is the primary contributor to housing affordability challenges.
Even when land is available for development, parcels are not usually large enough to develop a mix of housing. Thus, highrise condominiums dominate new housing construction in Vancouver and Toronto, and most new developments have been of single land use, i.e., either exclusively residential or commercial. Mixed-use developments have surprisingly been rare.
Toronto, however, may soon get some reprieve for land scarcity: Transportation giant Bombardier Inc. intends to vacate the massive Downsview site in the city’s north end, which houses an aircraft assembly facility and a sparingly used airstrip.
At 375 acres, the site has the potential to vastly outstrip many other large, well-known urban renewal projects.
The Hudson Yards project in Manhattan, for instance, is considered one of the largest private development projects in the recent past. The project was motivated by similar concerns as the Downsview site, i.e., to use newly expanded transit to the fullest and to redevelop underused lands.
At its completion, Hudson Yards redevelopment will boast 17 million square feet of new residential and commercial space including 100 new shops and restaurants and 5,000 residential units. A luxury hotel and a public school will also be constructed at the site.
Compared to the potential of the Downsview site, the Hudson Yards development is tiny, covering 24 acres of which 14 have been dedicated as open space.
Canary Wharf in London, England, developed initially by Canadian builders Olympia and York, is another relevant example of redevelopment, though it is primarily commercial. The 97-acre site has a working population of 120,000 individuals housed in 37 office buildings. The site also supports over 300 restaurants.
With 16 million square feet of office, retail, and leisure space, Canary Wharf is one of the most sought-after business locations in Europe. The intense development is supported by a London Underground station that happens to be one of the busiest stations that serves only a single (Jubilee) line.
Both offer lessons and hope for the Toronto site, which is a good candidate for mixed-use redevelopment.
The proximity to three subway and one GO stations will facilitate transit-oriented development with a significant potential for intensification near the existing and newly built transit stations.
Furthermore, relocation of nonconforming land use, e.g., an airport, is likely to improve the value of existing properties that are often depressed because of noise pollution and visual encumbrance.
The adverse impact of proximity to an airport extends even further because height restrictions near airports limit the floor area ratio for land in the vicinity. Once the airport is relocated, the neighbouring land can also be redeveloped at a higher intensity.
The stated planning objectives of the City of Toronto and the province, such as the updated growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, recommends new mixed-use developments at higher density. The specified minimum density target for urban growth centres in the City of Toronto is 400 residents and jobs combined per hectare (2.5 acres).
The Downsview site is not among the designated urban growth centres. The site is currently zoned for commercial uses. If the site is rezoned for mixeduse development resulting in a mix of diverse housing types, office, hotels, and other conforming land use, the planning objectives of high-density development at or above the density thresholds can easily be realized.
At the same time, redevelopment of Downsview site can help rejuvenate surrounding neighbourhoods, some of which have long battled blight and crime.
The redevelopment of Downsview site will also improve the intensity of transit use at Sheppard West (formerly Downsview) and the newly launched Downsview Park subway stations. If the status quo maintains and the site remains underutilized, these stations are likely to starve for ridership because of the launch of a new subway station at York University that has, in the past, generated most of the transit demand at the former Downsview station.
The mixed-use development has the potential to increase transit ridership by new residents in peak direction and by new workers heading to work at offices or similar establishments in the reverse commute direction.
The Downsview site offers the opportunity to build a city within a city.
They are not making land anymore. But with a little imagination and initiative — and collaboration between governments and communities — we can make the most of what is already there.