Mixed-use project proposed above future downtown Toronto GO Station

Mixed-use development proposed above future downtown Toronto GO Station

Metrolinx

With Canada’s real estate inventory approaching a “crisis point,” peculiar plots are being eyed for future housing.

Metrolinx recently revealed plans to transform a downtown Toronto rail yard into a high-density mixed-use development.

Located at 433 Front Street West, the 1.01-acre site will eventually be home to the Spadina-Front GO Station. But it’s the space above and around the station that Metrolinx is eyeing.

The proposal would create a vibrant, sustainable, mixed-use community out of what is currently the North Bathurst Yard, a GO Train storage facility.

“Integrating transit into the places people live, work, shop, and play is the smart, forward-thinking approach that creates convenient and reliable ways to connect more people to transit,” Metrolinx said.

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Following a two-stage Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposals, which were issued due to the complexities of building on the site, Metrolinx selected Dream Unlimited Corp. and Kilmer Group as development partners for the project.

Operating together as Dream Kilmer, the group’s proposal integrates the at-grade GO Station into the mixed-use development, with station entrances on Front Street West and Spadina Avenue.

The future Spadina-Front GO Station is part of the GO Expansion project and will serve the Barrie GO Line. Currently in the development phase, the multi-billion-dollar expansion project will bring two-way, all-day service to the main GO Train lines.

Dream Kilmer will work with Metrolinx and ONxpress — the successful GO Expansion proponent — to ensure the scope, design, and construction schedule for the mixed-use development are integrated into the overall project.

“Projects like this don’t happen overnight,” Metrolinx cautioned. “They require time, coordination, and partnership to succeed.”