Christopher Hume – Toronto Star

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]uddenly everyone loves the Port Lands. As Waterfront Toronto discovered yet again this week, public interest in the future of the 1,000-acre precinct has never been greater.

But as the agency also found out, with that interest comes a desire for more input. And at a time when WT is under pressure on various fronts — most notably City Hall — those demands won’t be easily met.

The session, which attracted an energetic crowd of more than 600, was held to explore ways the agency can pay for and speed up revitalization of the Port Lands, that degraded terrain stretching south from the Keating Channel to Lake Ontario. Earlier this year, Ward 2 Councillor Doug Ford, Mayor Rob Ford’s brother, proposed a scheme that would have transformed the area into a mega-mall with an amusement park on the side.

Torontonians were less than enthusiastic, however, and the development was quickly withdrawn. All that remained to the cash-strapped city was to ask WT to move faster to “unlock the value” of this sprawling landscape.

But as attendees made clear Monday evening, they’re not convinced Port Lands revitalization needs to be accelerated. Keeping in mind how much development is already underway on the waterfront — over 5,300 residential units alone — they have a point.

[pullquote]Even in a market as hot as Toronto, there’s a limit to how many condos can be absorbed before supply exceeds demand.[/pullquote]

So far, sales of waterfront units have been strong, especially in the West Don Lands, where the Pan Am Games Athlete’s Village will be located. But there’s a long way to go.

On the Port Lands, the idea is to bring mixed-use communities — residential, retail, recreational as well as commercial — to the water’s edge. But before that, the mouth of the Don River must be naturalized, difficult since no one knows exactly what it looked like originally. In addition, the soil — mostly landfill — is polluted.

We shouldn’t forget that the Port Lands were created by filling in Ashbridge’s Bay, once the site of the largest wetland on the Great Lakes. This is still the floodplain of the Don River, a fact many, in their rush to redevelop, would rather forget.

Conventional economic wisdom dictates that the projects planned for the East Bayfront, West Don Lands and the Central Waterfront should be completed before Port Lands get their remake.

According to Toronto planner Tony Coombes, that process could take as long as 50 years. WT CEO John Campbell puts it at 25 to 30 years.

The issue is whether to rush to develop or stay the course, though that will try the patience of an already impatient city hall. But if this week’s session was any indication, Torontonians are in no hurry.

“Why do you want to speed up the process?” asked one skeptical participant to loud applause. “What will be jeopardized?”

Others worried about sports facilities, playing fields, marinas and how tall the buildings would be.

Even more ominous was the presence of well-intentioned but recently hired deputy city manager John Livey, who with Campbell will oversee a task force convened to look at Port Lands funding models. It’s unclear what Livey, who had little to add beyond the usual platitudes, can bring to the table.

Sadly, since the days of former mayor David Miller, who had no better understanding of waterfront revitalization than the Fords, the city has been an obstacle. But as the last decade has made clear, some issues are too important to be left to the vagaries of local politics — the city among them.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto Realtor with Century 21 Regal Realty. He did not
write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who are
interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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