The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is poised to finalize a lease agreement for the proposed eight-storey, 450,000-square-foot office building slated for Yonge Street and Wilson Avenue early this month, said TTC chair Adam Giambrone. After the board authorized the move in late August, a 30- to 45-day timeline was established to iron out details with Build Toronto, the city’s arms-length real estate agency.
Giambrone is confident that his organization will sign on as the lead tenant for the future building.
“It was designed effectively for the TTC although it could be changed a little bit for another tenant … but we’re moving in,” he said.
Coun. Karen Stintz said that, even though this has been the assumption, no one has been confirmed as the lead tenant yet.
She maintains her position that the development application has raised a handful of issues that need to be resolved — concerns relating to the size of the proposed building, its proximity to the ravine and loss of public parking are among them.
“Until those issues are addressed, I don’t believe there’s any way to move forward on this file,” she said. “They shouldn’t try to find a tenant and then make a building that may not fit the site.” Bruce Logan, Build Toronto’s director of communications and public affairs, said that his organization would like to have shovels in the ground by next summer. But this depends on having the appropriate approvals in place from the community and tenant by spring.
Build Toronto hopes to hold a workshop for residents next month, in advance of the mandatory public consultation that is expected to begin in December, said Logan.
Giambrone indicated that it would make sense for the proposed $5 million transit museum to be located in the future building, but the project hinges on the TTC’s ability to attract private sector funding.
