The West Don Lands is being transformed from former industrial lands into a sustainable, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, riverside community. Encompassing a 32 hectare (80 acre) area that runs from Parliament Street in the west to the Don River in the east, and from King Street to the rail corridor, it will feature 6,000 new residential units, ample space for employment and commercial uses, at least one elementary school, and two child-care centres - all encircled by 10 hectares of parks and public spaces. The neighbourhood has already received Stage 1 LEED ND GOLD (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighbourhood Development) certification under the pilot program established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Development of the area is being accelerated because it is the site of the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes’ Village. Originally planned to be built out over 10 to 12 years in three phases, now more than half of the West Don Lands will be completed for the Games in June 2015. Following the Games, the Athletes’ Village will be converted into a range of housing options.

Largely owned by the Provincial Government, the West Don Lands occupies a unique site at the original mouth of the Don River. While the river has been channelized and the shoreline has shifted south, the essence of the site remains a low-lying river delta.

Work is already well underway in the West Don Lands. Remediation efforts are underway and construction of the main part of the area’s massive flood protection landform is nearly complete. Several of the area’s streets are under construction, and later this year construction will begin on two of the area’s parks, Don River Park and Underpass Park. Construction will also start this year on the Toronto Community Housing Corporation complex, the area’s first affordable rental housing building.

River City, the first private sector development in the West Don Lands, opened its sales centre in February 2010. Developed by Urban Capital and designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architects and ZAS Architects, the project includes more than 900 loft-styled condos and townhomes. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2010, with first phase occupancy slated for 2012.

Historically, the West Don Lands was part of the Old Town of York, established by John Graves Simcoe in 1793. “The Park,” as it was referred to on early maps, extended from Berkeley Street to the Don River as far north as Queen Street. It remained intact until the 1830s when it was subdivided and sold to finance the new provincial hospital. The Park was connected to the larger Garrison Reserve to the west by a shoreline promenade known as the Walks & Gardens. The only evident industrial uses dating to this period were the earliest brickyards.

The first non-government building on the West Don Lands portion of the park reserve was Gooderham’s 1832 windmill that evolved into the Gooderham & Worts Distillery. Associated uses followed such as cattle byres, harness making, and cooperages. Enoch Turner’s brewery on Taddle Creek near Parliament and Front Street was an employer that attracted a considerable work force, and housing quickly became established in the surrounding area.

The arrival of the railways in the 1850s hastened the industrialization of the eastern waterfront. Maps from this period show gasometres, rail yards, roundhouses, work yards, abattoirs, foundries, lumber yards, and a large number of houses, including those of the Turner, Worts, and Gooderham families who initially lived on their respective factory properties.

Over the years, the Don River which ran through the area was straightened, Taddle Creek was buried, marshes were filled in and land was leveled.

The 20th century brought refineries, rail yards, cement works, scrap yards, steel fabricators, salt storage, varnish factories, foundries, lumber yards, and automotive uses. With the pressure of railway expansion in the area, most of the residential uses left the site. As the city continued to expand, many of the industries relocated to the suburbs, or closed, leaving behind a number of buildings that are recognized today for their heritage value and large amounts of open space.

The provincial government took title of the West Don Lands in 1996.
 

The West Don Lands will feature a number of striking design elements, and the area will be a stunning mixture of old and new. The five historic buildings on the West Don Lands site, located on Eastern Avenue and on Cherry and Trinity streets, are being preserved and will be adaptively reused and incorporated in new developments.

A new and innovative street design, called woonerfs or living streets, will be used for some of the area’s local streets. Woonerfs are pedestrian-oriented streets that erase the boundary between sidewalk and street and provide a common public space shared by pedestrians, cyclists and low-speed motor vehicles. While they are commonly found in Europe and elsewhere, the West Don Lands will be the first place they will be used in Toronto.

Waterfront Toronto has also developed a Public Art Strategy for the West Don Lands, the first community scale comprehensive art master plan in Canada. Art will be displayed throughout the area’s parks and open spaces, creating an outdoor public gallery to provoke, delight and entertain residents and visitors.

The West Don Lands will be a transit oriented community with transit available within five minutes of residents and businesses. The new Cherry Street streetcar line will run on its own right-of-way between King Street and the rail corridor, and will eventually connect to the new streetcar line on Queens Quay Boulevard.

Boundaries:
From Parliament Street to the Don River, King Street to the Rail corridor

Size:

• 32 hectares (80 acres)
• 6,000 new residential units
• 9.3 hectares (23 acres) of parks and public space, including the 7 hectare (18 acre) Don River Park

Proximity: 15 minute walk to downtown, next to the Distillery District

Design teams:

• Precinct Plan and Block Plans: Urban Design Associates and DTAH
• Public Realm and Urban Design Teams: The Planning Partnership, Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, and &Co.
• Public Art Consultant: Jill Anholt
• Heritage consultants: ERA Architects
• Don River Park: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and DTAH
• Engineering Consultants: RV Anderson Associates Limited