Toronto's temporary shipping container market to stay for at least another decade

Though Toronto's stackt market was initially intended to be a temporary installation, the award-winning indoor-outdoor plaza crafted from more than 120 shipping containers has shared that it has just renewed its long-term lease, meaning it will be around for at least another decade.

In a Wednesday announcement, the retail hub said that it will now remain at 28 Bathurst Street until at least June 2034 in a partnership with the City that execs are "thrilled" to continue.

This means that existing plans for a new park on the property, for which environmental assessments were conducted back in 2022, will be on hold for the foreseeable future as stackt becomes a more permanent feature of the Fort York-West Queen West area.

In its first five years, the space has been home to both a permanent and rotating selection of more than 3,000 small businesses, offering food, drinks, shopping, activities and pop-up activations to visitors in a unique and very Instagrammable space.

Inspired by similar markets in cities around the globe and the largest of its kind in North America, its industrial-chic aesthetic, patio and green space, and endless potential for customizability for various brands and events year-round has made it one of the city's most famous new attractions.

In its latest update, stackt also revealed some exciting expansion news about its stackt* pop-up ventures, which will open first in Ottawa, then in Vancouver and Calgary this summer to help tens of thousands of small businesses with physical storefronts as well as grants, collaborations and other supports.

The previous lease the company had at the corner of Bathurst and Front Streets was extended multiple times on much shorter-term bases from its original projected end in 2020.