GM has a big vision for Toronto campus
Café, R&D lab, bike lanes feature in proposal to city
Development applications recently submitted to the city of Toronto reveal GM has a much larger vision for the seven-acre property than originally thought.
Last year, after purchasing land on Toronto’s underdeveloped eastern waterfront, GM Canada announced plans for new offices, a multibrand dealership, plus a research and development mobility campus.
Officially named the Toronto GM Mobility Hub, the development documents propose a winged, five-storey multi-use structure that will house a hip new headquarters for Cadillac Canada, a home north of the border for GM’s growing Maven ride-sharing service, additional sales offices, plus dealership and service space for the four GM brands.
However, the crown jewel of the 280,852 square-foot structure is an Urban Mobility Research and Development lab, which will bring in nearly 300 high-paying tech jobs.
There’s also a public café planned, likely the site of Cadillac House North, while the dealerships and service centre gives GM a presence in Toronto’s downtown core it hasn’t had for over a decade.
Two other development sites are proposed for the north side of the property as employee servicing retail space and office space for rent. One structure will retain and incorporate the existing buildings built in the 1920s as a “form reference to the area’s industrial past,” but more evaluation will continue as part of a future development. Several sustainability features such as bioswales, grey-water reusage and green roofs feature in the proposal. The project also aims to improve the public space surrounding the site, adding 120 new trees, generously wide sidewalks and space for cyclists to reclaim a ne- glected corner of the city.
The development documents were submitted on March 31, but there are currently no hearings scheduled regarding the project.
GM did re-lease the property to Cinespace for another 12 months after purchasing it from the film studio — even so, the approval process is expected to take several years.