Enormous mega-development over Toronto rail corridor morphs again

A mega-development with eight towers and new public space could soon transform Toronto's downtown rail corridor. It's a promise (or threat, depending on your outlook) that locals have heard many times over the last decade, with nothing to show for it so far but an evolving set of plans and renderings.

When former mayor John Tory first proposed a bold vision to deck over Toronto's Union Station rail corridor in 2016 and create a new downtown park spanning Bathurst Street to Blue Jays Way, it seemed like something with game-changing potential.

But the vision quickly got tangled up in a protracted landowner rights battle, which saw competing interests pitch their own visions for the air rights over the rail corridor. Ultimately, a private venture prevailed, resulting in a series of changing plans that allocated much of the decked-over rail corridor to tall condo towers.

Those plans took another step forward on Thursday, when Fengate Asset Management announced the launch of what is now dubbed the 'Toronto Rail Yards' development, marking a key step forward for the mega-complex planned in partnership with LiUNA.

Fengate hails the project as a "transformative new mixed-use community to be built above the active rail corridor between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue."

The project is set to bring a mix of nearly 4,000 homes, 85,000 square metres of office space, retail, childcare, and over two acres of urban park spaces to areas currently occupied by the trenched rail lines approaching Union Station.

The latest vision for the 14-acre plan features some bold new designs from architects Henning Larsen, bolstered by some dramatic-looking public spaces.

While still heavily watered down from the vast public spaces over the rail corridor promised by the Tory administration in 2016, the public realm contributions appear to be of impressive design quality. Credit where credit is due.

Transit plays heavily into the plans for the complex. LiUNA and Fengate state the plan will kick off with a six-acre deck across the existing rail yard to improve the public realm and connections to the GO network.

From there, the project would incorporate a roughed-in connection to the planned Spadina-Front GO Station, a new stop between Exhibition and Union that would become a busy transfer for Rogers Centre crowds.

Joseph Mancinelli, Chair of LPFCEC, LiUNA International Vice President and Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Canada, expects that the project will "create more than 4,600 construction jobs and generate more than nine million union construction hours, making this not only a transformative investment in Toronto's future, but a testament to what union labour can build for generations to come."