Parkdale Hub

Project History

The Parkdale Hub project, located at the intersection of Queen Street West and Cowan Avenue, is a transformational city-building initiative that will deliver wide-ranging social, cultural and economic benefits to the Parkdale community. The intersection is currently home to an important cluster of City-owned facilities and community services, all of which are in need of significant capital investment over the next ten years in order to maintain current service delivery levels. On December 15, 2021, City Council adopted the Parkdale Hub Project – Advancing to Phase 3 report, which recommended CreateTO advance to Phase 3 of the Parkdale Hub project in collaboration with City divisions and agencies, and the local community.

Phase 3 of the Parkdale Hub project will include:

•  A City-initiated rezoning process for the Parkdale Hub sites, based on the Demonstration Plan prepared in Phase 2;
•  The expropriation of an adjacent privately-owned property (1337 Queen St. W.) to deliver additional city building benefits, including affordable housing and new community spaces, through the Parkdale Hub project;
•  The development of a business case for the future affordable housing sites; and
•  The competitive procurement of a non-profit affordable rental housing development partner.

Phase 3 will also include ongoing community engagement activities. More information will be available this year. The full CreateTO report, which includes an overview of the design work completed in Phase 2 of the project, can be found in our Reports & Resources section.

The Parkdale Hub Study Area includes approximately 4.24 acres of City-owned lands and includes the following properties:

Potential Redevelopment:

•  Masaryk-Cowan Community Recreation Centre (220 Cowan Avenue
• Parkdale Library Branch (1303 Queen Street West)
•  Parkdale Arts and Culture Centre (1313 Queen Street West)
• Toronto Parking Authority lot (1325 Queen Street West)

Potential Enhancements to Public Realm and Site Integration:

•  Masaryk Park and Dunn Avenue Parkette
•  Public Laneway at rear of library (Milky Way Lane)
• Toronto Community Housing residential apartment building (245 Dunn Avenue)

Reimagining the future of this area provides a unique opportunity for CreateTO to collaborate with City divisions, agencies, the non-profit sector and the broader community to create spaces that will more efficiently and effectively serve the Parkdale community into the future.

The benefits that will be delivered to the Parkdale community through this project include:

• The revitalization and expansion of the Masaryk-Cowan Community Recreation Centre, to better deliver recreational programming through a more efficient design and the addition of up to 30,000 square feet of space;
• The revitalization and expansion of the Parkdale Library Branch, to provide increased visibility and accessibility to the third busiest library branch in the city;
• The creation of new affordable rental housing delivered through the Housing Now Initiative;
• The ongoing delivery of Artscape’s cultural hub program, which provides affordable live-work housing for local artists as well as an art gallery and community office space;
• The creation of new inclusive and accessible community space and design elements that will strategically connect programs, services and people – creating an integrated “Hub”; and
• Significant enhancements to the public realm in the heart of the Parkdale neighbourhood, through the sensitive adaptive re-use of heritage buildings and improved connectivity with the adjacent residential neighbourhood.

This project was initiated by City Council in 2017, with a request for City staff to convene an Inter-Divisional Agency Table to determine the feasibility of a coordinated City plan for the City-owned properties located at 1313, 1303 Queen Street West and 220 Cowan Avenue.

In 2018, CreateTO was directed to undertake a Feasibility Study during which the agency, in collaboration with the City of Toronto Real Estate Services division, held several preliminary stakeholder and community meetings to learn what Parkdale residents, community organizations and local City agencies would like to see included in a future community hub.

At the direction of City Council, the Parkdale Hub project will be following the guiding principles and objectives of the Housing Now Initiative, and 1303 Queen St. W. will be considered for a future phase of the Housing Now Initiative.

The Parkdale Hub project was one of CreateTO’s first projects launched under the new city-wide model to centralize the delivery of the City’s real estate services. The project is a great example of CreateTO serving as a catalyst for city-building and supporting the vibrancy of the community, while contributing to the City’s broader city-building objectives.