“This is a great example of a livable neighbourhood”
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Created to find redevelopment opportunities for the city’s underutilized and surplus real estate, Build Toronto is the city’s real estate and development investment corporation. As part of the role they play in the overall growth of Toronto, they look at how a site can be developed to create greater value, both financially and through city-building. With over 30 years of experience leading successful organizations in real estate development and strong operational and financial growth, The Tap spoke with Bill Bryck, President & CEO of Build Toronto, about Waterworks and the impact it will make on the community.
The Tap: How does Build Toronto impact development and what role is it playing in the redevelopment of Waterworks?
Bill Bryck: We help shape the future for underutilized city-owned real estate and bring together the players who can execute on redeveloping the properties. We look at creating thriving, sustainable communities that support economic growth and contribute to a better future for Toronto.
Once the 505 Richmond Street West site was identified as surplus to the city’s needs in 2012, Build Toronto began its due diligence in understanding the history and current value of the site. We worked with ERA Architects and the City of Toronto on a Heritage Easement to ensure historical components were preserved. We began to engage with the local community and Councillors to understand local needs.
We collaborated with the City of Toronto, the YMCA and Councillor Cressy on the approvals for the provision of construction, capital loan guarantees and entered a Community Use Agreement for the development of a YMCA. We also helped to secure an agreement with the City of Toronto, Artscape and a future development partner to ensure financing for the affordable home ownership units. Great city-building takes time, patience, negotiations and forward thinking and in collaboration with Councillor Cressy, MOD Developments and Woodcliffe Landmark Properties, I’m pleased to say we set the stage for an exceptional development project. We’re truly looking forward to seeing the fruit of this planning take shape.
The Tap: What do you need to take into consideration when working with a heritage building like Waterworks?
Bill Bryck: As developers and as city-builders, it is our responsibility to honour a building’s heritage roots. When working with developers like MOD Developments and Woodcliffe Landmark Properties, you need to ensure that their idea is reflective of the preservation of the building’s architectural significance. As you’ll see once building begins, MOD Developments and Woodcliffe Landmark Properties make the building’s heritage a structural focus, which demonstrates their vision and dedication to protecting the rich history of downtown Toronto.
As part of the Heritage Easement, Build Toronto secured the preservation of features such as the interior courtyard, metal gabled skylights, detailed stonework at the entrances and exterior stone chevrons. We then focused on honouring the site’s early use as a public market. The vision for the Food Hall re-establishes a publicly accessible space that pays homage to a local artisan food focus that helped to establish it as a market almost 160 years ago. Lastly, because the site established itself as a community hub, we focused on integrating it back into its local community with a porous building design and a new opening onto St. Andrew’s Playground.
The Tap: Creating livable neighbourhoods is a big part of what Build Toronto does; how do you see Waterworks impacting the neighbourhood?
Bill Bryck: We heard Councillor Cressy say a number of times that this is not just another residential building, this is city-building at its best. Thoughtful planning, careful selection of uses and active space and, most importantly, the process for how we got here has already had an impact on the neighbourhood. We took the time to listen to our community members and meet with them over the course of four years so we knew what they wanted to see in the neighbourhood and what they lacked. We established an open and collaborative relationship that took some time to form. The end result, a building that offers active living, a place to meet, to eat, affordable housing, a non-for-profit, park improvement and a beautiful design. This is a great example of a livable neighbourhood.
