Toronto to start work on Parkdale Hub project
The City of Toronto has announced that it will soon begin work on the third phase of its Parkdale Hub project.
The four-acre site, which is located at the intersection of Queen Street West and Cowan Avenue, is currently home to several city-owned facilities and community services, including the Parkdale Library, the Masaryk-Cowan Community Recreation Centre, the Parkdale Arts & Culture Centre, and a municipal parking lot at 1325 Queen St. W.
Toronto aims to transform the site to include a range of new community resources such as non-profit affordable rental housing, a renovated and expanded Masaryk-Cowan Community Recreation Centre, a reconstructed and expanded Parkdale Library Branch, inclusive and accessible community space and design elements, and the adaptive re-use of a handful of heritage buildings.
“The Parkdale Hub project is an excellent City of Toronto partnership that will benefit the community,” said Mayor John Tory. “The Hub will create more housing, 50 percent of which is affordable housing, and community spaces, and will provide residents the programs and supports they need, want and deserve.”
In November, Toronto’s real estate agency CreateTO approved a report providing an update on the project’s phase two Feasibility Study, which included collaborating with City staff on advancing architectural design work, a construction phasing strategy, environmental due diligence, negotiations for a strategic property acquisition, a preliminary civil engineering assessment, high-level costing analysis, and ongoing community and stakeholder engagement.
Based on the outcomes of the phase two Feasibility Study, City staff recommend a series of actions to advance the project to phase three in a report to Executive Committee on December 7.
As part of phase three, the city will begin proceedings to expropriate a property at 1337 Queen Street West. The city says acquiring the property is key to the project, and will enable the creation of new affordable homes and community program space.