[URBAN NOTE] A park at 11 Wellesley West?

[rfmcdonald]

Urban Toronto's Alex Corey has just posted about an attempt by City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam to take the vacant lot on 11 Wellesley West, just west of Yonge Street on Wellesley, and make it into an urban park. It's a distant hope, I think, given real estate prices, but who knows?

Amidst the clamor of construction along Bay Street there's been one site that has been eerily quiet for all too long; 11 Wellesley Street West, located between Bay and Yonge on the south side has been a relative eyesore for two decades. Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam is hoping to change that, with an important motion being put forward at City Council tomorrow, July 12. UrbanToronto had the opportunity to speak with Councillor Wong-Tam who explained her motion in greater detail.

The land has some history of course. Covered with a mix of low-rise buildings, the provincial government donated the 2.10-acre site in the 1980s for the construction of a new ballet and opera house, a grand post-modern plan designed by Moshe Safdie. That project was cancelled during the recession of 1991, and a large portion of the land has remained undeveloped since, other than functioning for a brief stint as a skateboard park. Most recently the site was owned by Morguard, which had approvals to construct mid-rise buildings, but which never built. The site subsequently passed into provincial hands.

The valuable plot of land has now been listed for sale by CBRE on behalf of the province, meant to appeal to developers as a potential commercial/residential tower complex as seen in the rendering below. Sales materials speak of there being 319,210 square feet buildable amongst multiple towers. The motion being put forward tomorrow will ask for the opportunity to negotiate the City's acquisition of the land from the province.


CBRE Real Estate Listing for 11 Wellesley Street West

Councillor Wong-Tam has been working closely with MPP Glen Murray, both of whom would ideally like to see the site transformed into a park. Wong-Tam noted that there is also the possibility they would support a small portion of the site set aside for condominium development which could help pay for the park, although other funding models are preferred. Of particular note was the fact that Ward 27 contains the tallest buildings in Canada and has seen the heaviest recent residential development within the city, while it continues to contain the lowest percentile of public space. Most developers choose to pay cash-in-lieu of donating land for park space with each of their developments, and that has resulted in a sizeable land acquisition fund, one from which the city has thus far made no substantial purchase.

While paying the province in cash for the land would be the most straightforward way of acquiring the site, the reported $58 million price tag is more than daunting. Councillor Wong-Tam proposed that the city could in lieu of direct cash payment work out a land swap agreement; the city owns tracts of lands along the waterfront that the province might be interested in developing for the PanAm Games or for waterfront regeneration.