[URBAN NOTE] "Scuttled Crosstown deal sparks debate about Toronto transit and development"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr reports on a development dispute at the future Avenue Road station of the Eglinton Crosstown.

A dispute over a piece of land in midtown is reigniting debate about whether Toronto is doing enough to integrate transit with development projects.

Terranata Developments Inc. is slamming Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, for scuttling a deal that would have allowed the company to build a 15-storey mixed-use tower above the planned Avenue Rd. station on the $5.3-billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT line. Metrolinx counters that it couldn’t allow the project to go ahead because it would have delayed LRT construction, and didn’t have the support of the city.

The tower would have incorporated the station and, according to John Aquino, a partner at Terranata, provided Metrolinx and the local community with numerous benefits.

Aquino said Terranata offered millions of dollars for the air rights above the station, and would have granted the agency’s contractor permission to use its property as a construction staging area. Aquino argued that would have reduced the need for road closings and limited the effect on a nearby park, where Metrolinx intends to cut down about two dozen trees to make way for a work site.

“We were very disappointed to be shot down,” said Aquino, who learned the proposal had been rejected via a letter from Metrolinx in August.