Quality design may still be a hurdle, but affordable housing, a park and a new fire station all appear to be doable outcomes from a dash of creativity
This is worth bragging about. Here, the city – led by development agency Create TO – has done something that public agencies rarely do: treat public land as a valuable asset, and make the most of it.It is roughly 50 years old, a Brutalist behemoth, and the fire service says it needs to be replaced. To do so would cost tens of millions of dollars – and waste a downtown lot.
Second: The fire hall is being shuffled two blocks south, into the base of the city building known as Metro Hall. This will, in turn, get renovated. Separate public agencies at the city – as in every government – tend to work in silos. They have their own mandates. Two caveats with this scheme: One, the new park shouldn’t have a parking garage underneath it. The plans currently say it will – but Mr. Cressy said he is committed to moving the parking into the basement of the new development.