In an interview on CBC Radio’s, Metro Morning on Tuesday, Doug Ford spelled out the city’s vision for the Toronto Waterfront. Some of the highlights of Ford’s plan include a 1.6 million squar- foot ‘megamall’, a monorail and hotel project.
From the Toronto Star
“What we’d like to do is have a monorail system that’s running right from the Pan Am Games (site) right along the lakefront and stops at Union Station and Ontario Place and right across the front of the lake,” Ford said.
“And then it would hang a quick little right, right down Cherry St., and as it goes down Cherry St. the first stop would be right at the end of the pier.
“You would have some just beautiful iconic buildings, hotels, you’d be able to get to the hotel from boat, from train or from the airport and it’d be the only hotel that you’d be able to get off the plane, throw your luggage in a boat and pull right into the lobby and unload it.
“And the second stop would be down by Lake Ontario Park, Cherry Beach, and you’d have just 250 acres of beautiful beachfront. You’d be able to picnic, bike, jog and then the next stop would be the megamall.
“It would be 1.6 million square feet of one of the most prestigious malls in Canada. We’d try to attract Nordstrom and Bloomingdales and Macy’s …
“And the last stop is the Hearn Station, and that would be a multi-use facility with ice rinks on the base and soccer pitches on the top, retail on the back end and then the monorail would come back up to Union Station. It would be absolutely spectacular, it could be the most prestigious address in Canada and we need to develop it.”
Ford said that the funding for his project will come from private funds, including payments for roads and other infrastructure.
This statement comes on the heels of the Ford Administration decision that it wants to take control of the area from ‘Waterfront Toronto,’ an agency that receives contributions from all three levels of government to the tune of $500 million.
By the City’s rationale, it’s simply taking too long for the agency to move forward with its plans. For example, Waterfront Toronto has failed to come up with a plan to finance flood prevention, an aspect of the development that must be worked out before it can move forward.
The Mayor’s executive committee will vote next week on its plan to take control of the waterfront next week.
