Port LandsTransforming an industrial landscape to create new opportunities to live, work and play

As an active port, the Port Lands currently has a concentration of industrial uses that assist in building and maintaining the broader city. In addition to its active industrial uses, the Port is also a thriving hub for creativity, housing one of the nation’s paramount film studios and media centres. And, with the soon-to-be-completed flood protection work, the Port will eventually become home to Villiers Island, a new 54-acre sustainable and inclusive waterfront community with new parks, public spaces and more housing, including affordable housing. 

CreateTO, together with the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto, is currently exploring different ways to deliver housing and community services in this new waterfront community.  

We’re also developing plans for the McCleary District, another 50-acre parcel of land, that is envisioned as a dense, transit-oriented, complete mixed-use community and hub of activity. It will have a mid-rise feel, contribute to broader economic objectives, and complement the employment-focused districts to the south and east. 

In addition to these mixed-use developments, CreateTO is active in our role as a steward and property manager. In 2020, we took an 8.9-acre waterfront development parcel to market and selected Hackman Capital Partners and its affiliate The MBS Group to build and operate Basin Media Hub; a $250 million investment in a state-of-the-art film, television and digital media hub. Redevelopment of this former industrial site is expected to provide up to 500,000 GFA of studio space and production offices, as well as a new public water’s edge promenade.  

Transforming an underutilized industrial site into a new destination is also one of the goals behind the creation of Leslie Lookout Park. Located on the Martin Goodman Trail at 12 Leslie Street, the CCxA designed park, set to open in 2024, will include a public beach distinguished by forested dunes, natural plantings and a viewing platform with 360 views down the ship channel, all encompassed within a 1.9-acre open space.