The City of Toronto is reducing its office footprint from 55 to 15 locations and freeing up eight city-owned properties for affordable housing and other building priorities.

Toronto City Council approved the next phase of ModernTO, which was launched in 2019 to make sure the city is using its office space as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this move to a hybrid office environment, where office hubs will be created in civic buildings including City Hall, Metro Hall and the civic centres in Scarborough, North York, and Etobicoke.

This unlocks an estimated land value of $450 million for city-building purposes at various locations, including: 610 Bay Street; 277 Victoria Street; 931 Yonge Street; 33 Queen Street E.; 75 Elizabeth Street; 1900 Yonge Street; 18 Dyas Road and 95 The Esplanade.

The plan proposes to deliver between 500 to 600 affordable rental and ownership homes in prime downtown and midtown locations, as well as infrastructure and service improvements and new institutional and civic spaces while contributing funds towards future strategic land acquisitions through the LARF.

While redevelopment opportunities for each site are not yet fully determined, CreateTO, the City’s Corporate Real Estate Management division, City Planning and other City agencies have undertaken a preliminary due diligence and site visioning process which has informed the overall portfolio objectives and proposed outcomes.

“Repurposing the sites at 610 Bay Street and 931 Yonge Street present an exciting opportunity for the City to transform two underused City assets to increase access to affordable housing and to deliver other City priorities,” said Councillor Mike Layton (University-Rosedale). “In addition to prioritizing housing, CreateTO will be seeking innovative proposals to reimagine the Toronto Coach Terminal, which will also accommodate a Toronto Paramedic Services Hub, new retail and commercial space, while incorporating and preserving the existing heritage structure and providing public realm and streetscape improvements.”