Mayor John Tory says the city will spend $5 million to explore the logistics of redeveloping some 400 hectares of former industrial lands in the Port Lands.
Tory made the announcement at the waterfront Tuesday along with Waterfront Toronto Chair Mark Wilson.
“The revitalization of our waterfront is one of the most exciting projects that lies before this city,” Tory told reporters.
He said opening up the lands for redevelopment would create “a thriving new neighbourhood” in the city and create space for new social housing, transit and jobs.
However a major obstacle lies in the path of the long-held dream for the city’s eastern waterfront. The area is prone to major flooding.
According to Waterfront Toronto, some 290 hectares in the area – including parts of South Riverdale, Leslieville and the Unilever development site at the eastern base of the Don River – are at risk of flooding and cannot be developed until they are flood protected.
To address the problem, the due diligence studies will assess the costs and risks of “naturalizing” the mouth of the Don River.
That would mean rerouting the Don River to the middle of the Port Lands between the Ship Channel and the Keating Channel, addressing contaminated soil in the area and creating new parks, wetlands and urban infrastructure to mitigate the flood risk.
The work would also create a new island community – referred to in plans as Villiers Island – out of the Port Lands.
Ontario Minister for Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Brad Duiguid and Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver also took part in the announcement Tuesday and expressed their governments’ support for redeveloping the area.
“In principal our government sees the enormous social and economic potential of making this area safe from flooding,” Oliver said.
He cited a 2014 study that suggested developing the lands could add $3.6 billion to the Canadian economy and $346 million in tax revenues for all levels of government.
Neither Oliver or Duguid committed to a particular dollar amount, but expressed support for the project and praised Tory and Waterfront Toronto for taking the lead to make it a reality.
The due diligence studies are expected to be complete by the fall.
Tory joked that he will “be impatient” about receiving them “as the people of Toronto expect me to be.”
The full cost of redeveloping the lands is expected to be around $975 million and Waterfront Toronto has proposed that each level of government contribute a third of the cost.
The work could start as early as 2017 and could be complete as early as 2023.
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