Waterfront Toronto is moving ahead with its Port Lands plan, saying it would be happy to collaborate with a city agency pushing a mall-and-monorail vision of waterfront development.“What are the skills we bring to the table, what are the roles? That has to be worked out,” said Waterfront Toronto chief executive John Campbell in an interview Friday in his office at the foot of Bay St.
“But we’re keen to collaborate. We don’t see this as an adversarial battle. That’s not productive for anybody, including the Port Lands. . . . We’re certainly open to new ideas.”
Campbell suggested that if city council wants to adjust Waterfront Toronto’s plan to include less parkland and condominiums, and more commercial space, it can do that by amending the city’s official plan, without wrenching control of the land from Waterfront Toronto.
“If they want to change, go away from what’s been described, they’re fully able to do that because they have a democratic process they go through to decide the land use,” Campbell said, noting it would entail public hearings.
The city-provincial-federal agency, established with $500 million from each of the governments, has a 25-year plan to create a mixed-use community with 12,500 condo units, 500,000 square feet of office and retail space and parks.
The agency, which has built projects including Sugar Beach east of Yonge St., has already spent more than $120 million on protecting the eastern waterfront from a catastrophic flood, including a berm at the West Donlands.
The plan is to finish flood protection and install infrastructure, including sewers and roads, starting in the middle of the Port Lands and then radiating out, using profits from sales of each parcel to service the next patch.
But Toronto Port Lands Co., a city agency tasked with leasing land and cleaning up contaminated soil has come up, at the urging of the Mayor Rob Ford administration, a vastly different, glitzier “collection of ideas.”
It includes a large shopping centre, an elevated monorail, a giant ferris wheel, a marina, an “ice palace” in the former Hearn generating station, lots of condos and offices and less parkland for flood protection.
After seeing that “collection of ideas” Ford’s executive committee voted to start negotiated with the province and Ottawa to pull the Port Lands from Waterfront Toronto’s grasp. Council will vote on that Sept. 21.
Ford said he wants the area developed in 10 years, although the Port Lands Co. chief executive admitted his vision could take 15 years or more to finish, depending on market conditions.
Executive committee members also cited Waterfront Toronto’s lack of a plan to pay for a total of $634 million in flood protection. Council will get a plan at the same meeting.
The latest argument is jobs. Ford said Thursday: “Parks are beautiful. We have tons of parks, but unfortunately, that tree can’t employ anybody,” pointing at a wooded area.
But the driving reason seems to be the city’s gaping budget deficit and Ford’s election vow to fill it.
Councillor Mike Del Grande, the city’s budget chief, noted Tuesday that, under the current arrangement, the proceeds of land sales go to Waterfront Toronto.
If the city gets out of the Waterfront Toronto agreement, every dollar from sales of the city’s 263 hectares in the Port Lands would go straight into the city’s coffers.
Campbell said he understands the financial straits, and said it would be up to three levels of government to negotiate a different deal for Toronto if that’s what the city wants.
“Our business model is to take the seed capital (from initial sales), re-invest it to develop the stakeholders’ lands, sell that, generate returns, reinvest and roll down the street.
“One can appreciate Councillor Del Grande’s commentary because they’re in a pretty tight spot, that’s up to them . . . What we’re really saying is there are some fresh ideas here and, quite honestly, we can open the door to that.”
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Source: Toronto Star
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