LiUNA and Fengate Asset Management’s Toronto Rail Yards mixed-use development project will include an office component spanning almost one million square feet.

The office portion of the proposed project will span approximately 85,000 square metres or 915,000 square feet. The two partners are looking to leverage the large office footprint as they seek to maximize the overall project’s potential.

“There [are] indications that there is an appetite for new class-A office space in Toronto,” said Jordana Ross, Fengate’s vice-president of development, who is the project’s leader. “Especially during the working business hours, you can just see the impact of return-to-work on the downtown. It’s come alive. It’s gotten a lot busier, so that sort of experience is back in many parts of the downtown.”

The development site is located between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue. The 14-acre project, which will be built over the existing rail corridor, is being positioned as one of Toronto’s largest transit-oriented developments, combining residential, office, retail, childcare and public space uses into a new mixed-use neighbourhood.

LiUNA is the short-form name of the LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada. The pension-fund manager and Fengate have launched the project following several years of planning, consultation and co-ordination with community stakeholders, municipal officials and Metrolinx, the Greater Toronto Area’s transti authority. The project will connect directly to the future Spadina-Front GO train station, located one stop west of Union Station.

The location is prime for a major office development, given downtown Toronto’s prevailing lack of new supply, said Ross.

“We feel there aren’t that many really strong sites for a new class-A office tower in Toronto,” she said. “This one will be right over the future Spadina-Front Go train station, and so very premium transit connectivity one stop from Canada’s busiest train station, Union Station, in the heart of the city Right on the edge of the [central business district.]”

LiUNA and Fengate believe the large office component will blend nicely with the project’s other mixed uses. The office component is part of a diverse mix that, pending approvals, will include 4,000 mult-residential units, two acres of park space, two childcare centres and roughly 4,700 square metres, or roughly 50,000 sf of retail units are. Development will begin with the construction of a six-acre deck above the rail corridor, designed to connect residents and visitors to GO Transit and the broader transit network.

Ross said the deck’s construction is expected to begin in late 2028 and take approximately three to three-and-a-half years to complete. But tower construction could be completed before the deck is fully built.

The residential component will include a mix of condominiums and rentals, but exact totals remain to be finalized.

“We do know that there’s going to be a good amount of family-sized units, so two- and three-bedroom units right now,” said Ross.

The retail portion appears likely to contain some service outlets, a farmers’ market and restaurants that cater to people venturing to nearby entertainments and sports venues, she added.

LiUNA owns the site’s air rights. Fengate is responsible for implementing and executing the project. The two organizations have partnered on a number of projects. This one will use the nearby massive CIBC Square project as a precedent, said Ross. CIBC Square is located on the other side of Union Station and has open space over the rail corridor. Some of the consultants involved with Toronto Rail Yards also worked on Union Station.

Ross said the project will be transformative in terms of the number of union-labour hours involved, while also generating numerous other jobs.

“It’s equivalent to $650 million in union income from this project,” said Ross.

In her view, the project itself will also transform the area, particularly Front Street, a major downtown roadway and pedestrian passageway.

“You’ll see that there … isn’t even a sidewalk on that side of Front Street, and this is Front Street,” she said.

Pictured: Future Toronto Rail Yards community.

Rendering: Courtesy of LiUNA/Fengate