The City of Toronto and CreateTO announced on Thursday the fate of the city-owned properties at 610 Bay St. and 130 Elizabeth St. — home to the decommissioned Toronto Coach Terminal.
The Kilmer Group and Tricon Residential (Kilmer-Tricon) have been chosen to turn the terminal's two sites into a mixed-income, mixed-use development that will include affordable housing and a new, 23,000-square-foot Toronto Paramedic Services hub.
The redevelopment, which will have an overall health-care focus, will adapt the existing heritage building and include streetscape improvements, the city said in a release.
"This is an important city building opportunity in the core of the city, and we look forward to working with our partners to deliver urgently-needed affordable rental housing, a centralized paramedics hub, commercial space to support the surrounding Discovery District and much more," said Ken Tanenbaum, vice-chairman of the Kilmer Group.
"We will do this by preserving and revitalizing an important heritage asset and transform it into a landmark all Torontonians will be proud of.”
Consisting of two towers with residential, retail and public space, the development will be devoted exclusively to rental units, creating 873 new units, including 290 affordable housing units.
The city said design for the site — led by architectural firms Studio Gang, architects–Alliance, and Smoke Architecture, with landscape design by CCxA — is rooted in Indigenous principles.
Additional project features include a public plaza, a state-of-the-art organ repair centre for heart, lung, kidney and liver transplants (operated in partnership with University Health Network), and affordable housing for essential hospital workers and their families.
Construction completion and unit rentals at 610 Bay St. and 130 Elizabeth St. are expected in 2029 and in 2030, respectively.
Mayor Olivia Chow said she was pleased the project will transform the former coach terminal into "a thriving hub" with health-care facilities and space for small businesses.
"This project sets a high bar for how we can build more homes, while celebrating our city’s history and embracing Indigenous knowledge as we build new communities,” Chow said.
“610 Bay St. will be a model initiative that combines heritage, sustainability and much-needed services, while addressing the growing housing need in Toronto," said Coun. Dianne Saxe (University-Rosedale).
The properties are among eight city-owned sites identified as being underutilized by CreateTO, the city's real estate agency,
More information about the project can be found at www.createto.ca/610Bay.
