A whole new area of Toronto will soon be built out with tall towers

Toronto is so starved for housing that towers are being planned on an island that doesn’t even exist yet, technically speaking.

The $1.25 billion Port Lands Flood Protection Project is transforming a portion of the barren post-industrial wasteland into a new island courtesy of a re-routed and naturalized Don River valley etched through the area.

Water won’t flow through the new river mouth until 2025, but bridges are in place, and the future Villiers Island is already being targeted for development.

Details about the island’s future development plan were revealed during a recent public meeting hosted by the City of Toronto and its real estate asset arm CreateTO.

Three different visions for high-density developments were shared at the meeting, and the City along with CreateTO and Waterfront Toronto, are now seeking feedback from the public on the island’s future.

In the recent public meeting on Villiers Island, with the @cityoftoronto and @CreateTO, we shared three approaches to increasing density. Now we’re looking for public feedback. Share your thoughts in this survey, until July 9th: https://t.co/5g4F86Hy5C pic.twitter.com/f7Q251DJGo

— Waterfront Toronto (@WaterfrontTO) July 4, 2023

A survey asks the public to rate potential uses of the land by importance, including opportunities for affordable housing, animating the water’s edges, creating a network of public open spaces, prioritizing pedestrian, cycling and transit infrastructure, and a handful of other factors.

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All three visions floated share one thing in common, though. They all propose high-density land uses that would bring thousands of new residents and businesses to the soon-to-be-island.

Uhh, all three renderings look the same. (Of course, not your problem.)

— Bike Tarrytown (@BikeTarrytown) July 4, 2023

Several people have reacted to a preview of the three visions shared by Waterfront Toronto, with the shared complaint that the trio of renderings appear almost identical.

The 3 choices look almost identical… How about taking a page from Best practices and look at Chicago’s waterfront and not make the same butcherjob mistakes that was carried out on the Queen’s Quay East waterfront ?

— Mike 222 (@Mike22282285503) July 4, 2023

One commenter suggests that the island should only be built out with low-density development, however, several responses called out this logic amid Toronto’s ongoing housing crunch.

Single family homes ideally.

Barring that a mix of that and mid-rise. High-rises are low agency for people.

— Alex Bernardino 🐦 (@Al3xBernardino) July 4, 2023

Others are fully behind high-density development for the Port Lands, as long as it gets housing built quickly.

Whatever approach builds the most housing. Just make sure you properly plan it for mixed use and functional everything else.

— Trendl Tipple (@TippleTrendl) July 4, 2023

The same flood protection project, once complete, will also open up another huge swath of land north of the Keating Channel for redevelopment by eliminating the floodplain it sits on through the river’s redirection.