Plans for massive green space in downtown Toronto are being revisited

Once derailed plans for a massive green space along the rail corridor in downtown Toronto are being revisited as part of a new development proposal.

CRAFT, Kingsmen, and Fengate (CKF) are proposing a mixed-used community built on top of the rail corridor stretching from Blue Jays Way to Bathurst Street, which was once the site for the city’s 20-acre Rail Deck Park.

The proposal is still in the preliminary stages, but renderings presented at a virtual open house last month indicated it would include several towers, as well as park space, which could include as much as 11 acres.

“Now more than ever, we understand a vision for downtown Toronto should prioritize open public spaces, affordable housing and improved transit connectivity,” the developers state on the projects new website.

How this version of the rail deck park would be built is still up for discussion.

During the open house meeting, the developers indicated it “the deck and finishes for the park would be delivered by the city.”

From the City of Toronto’s standpoint that’s problematic.

“Under the planning the act they’re required to provide park land – what we said to Craft is you can’t just give us two acres of air because you can’t build a park on that,” said Lynda Macdonald, Director of Community Planning for Toronto and East York. “The city is still interested in achieving as much park land as we can over the rail deck.”

Last year, a provincial tribunal sided with the developer over the City of Toronto in its bid to build Rail Deck Park, saying the city should not have rejected a proposal by the developer to build a stretch of buildings in the space it sought for the park above a major rail corridor.

“The downtown core desperately needs additional greenspace,” said Matti Siemiatycki, the director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto, who adds the developers plans to revisit the proposal is an important first step.

“Is there a way the two parties can collaborate to come up with a strategy that advance the vision of greenspace for the city – while also creating opportunity for development.”

Spadina-Fort York City Councillor Joe Cressy continues to advocate that the rail corridor should become Rail Deck Park.

“Fifty years from now, when Toronto's population has grown exponentially, we will look back knowing that investing in Rail Deck Park was the right decision,” he said in a statement.

Cressy adds he’s highly skeptical of this new proposed development ever getting built.

“Not only would building 11 large towers over the rail corridor be an incredibly difficult task due to the infrastructure that would be needed, this specific development proposal includes using city-owned property to make it happen: the Puente de Luz bridge, as well as land on Front Street and at Northern Linear Park,” he said.

Cressy adds the development cannot get built without the city’s approval.

The developers have not yet detailed the scope of this new proposal, however CKF is planning to submit rezoning applications to the city in the spring.