The City of Toronto and its real estate portfolio management agency CreateTO have selected Kilmer Group and Tricon Residential to redevelop the historic former Toronto Coach Terminal.

The redevelopment site comprises city-owned properties at 610 Bay Street and 130 Elizabeth Street. A designated heritage building, the former terminal was built in 1931. It was decommissioned in 2021.

The redevelopment will transform the decommissioned bus depot into a mixed-income, mixed-use community that includes affordable housing, a new hub for Toronto Paramedic Services, and employment opportunities, said the city and CreateTO in a news release.

The project is designed to preserve the site’s heritage through the adaptive reuse of the existing building, while introducing significant streetscape improvements.

“We need to build more affordable homes in Toronto,” said Mayor Olivia Chow in a news release. “That’s why I am so pleased that this project will transform the former Toronto Coach Terminal into not only new rental and affordable housing, but a thriving hub with healthcare facilities and space for small business to start and grow.

“This project sets a high bar for how we can build more homes, while celebrating our city’s history and embracing Indigenous knowledge as we build new communities.”

Chow and Vic Gupta, CEO of CreateTO, told reporters at a news conference that there is no net cost to the city, which will continue to own the land. The federal government will provide low-cost financing and, in accordance with its apartment-construction policy, waive GST and HST charges.

The ambitious plan features two residential towers with retail and public spaces, delivering 873 purpose-built rental units, 290 of which will be affordable housing. The design is led by Studio Gang, architects-Alliance, Smoke Architecture, and CCxA, with a focus on the Indigenous principle of the Seven Directions to create a community-centred, people-first environment.

The project’s key features include:

• Heritage Integration: Adaptive reuse of the Toronto Coach Terminal and bus bays.
• Toronto Paramedic Services Hub: A 23,000-square-foot facility to provide emergency support to the surrounding area.
• Healthcare Partnerships: Collaboration with University Health Network (UHN) to establish a state-of-the-art organ repair centre for heart, lung, kidney, and liver transplants.
• Affordable Housing: Partnerships with UHN and the Hospital Workers’ Housing Co-operative to provide housing for essential hospital workers and their families, as well as with Woodgreen Community Services, the March of Dimes, and Wigwamen.
• Public Plaza: An urban oasis between the two towers, featuring a series of “outdoor rooms” for community use.
• Sustainability: A geothermal district energy system and sustainable building design that exceeds Toronto Green Standard and Canadian Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building design certification requirements.

The project is expected to rejuvenate the area within Toronto’s Discovery District, blending residential, retail, and public amenities while connecting surrounding neighbourhoods with tree-lined public spaces.

Construction of the first rental tower at 610 Bay is expected to be completed in early 2029, with the second tower at 130 Elizabeth scheduled for early 2030.

The redevelopment is part of the ModernTO initiative, adopted by city council in October 2019. The program identified eight underutilized, high-value city-owned sites to unlock their potential for addressing critical municipal needs, including housing and community services.

Kilmer Group is headed by Larry Tanenbaum, a well-known Toronto entrepreneur, who is an influential minority shareholder in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the city’s major professional sports teams, including the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and NBA’s Toronto Raptors.

Kilmer focuses its holdings on private equity, infrastructure and real estate, and sports and media.

Toronto-based Tricon Residential is a rental-housing investor and developer.