Centred on Front Street in the West Don Lands, the Athletes’ Village for the 2015 Pan American Games runs between Bayview Avenue and Cherry Street and from north of Front Street to the rail corridor. The village will accommodate up to 8,500 athletes and team officials in a single centrally located area.

The Village will be built using Waterfront Toronto’s vision for a green, modern and vibrant new community outlined in the Precinct Plan for the West Don Lands. It will be a showcase modern community where design excellence, sustainability and technology come together. After the Games it will become a lively, vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood that offers a range of housing for people at all stages of life and income levels.

The Village will include approximately 2,100 housing units in buildings that will be designed and developed in such a way that they can be easily converted for residential uses following the Games. In addition to sports and recreation facilities, the Village will include: an accreditation centre to process athletes, team officials and visitors; retail space, bank and restaurants; a medical centre; and entertainment areas plus other conveniences and amenities to welcome and accommodate thousands of athletes from across the Americas.

Locating the Pan Am Games Athletes’ Village in the West Don Lands is a win-win scenario. It means a significant increase in the pace of transforming the former industrial lands into a beautiful, sustainable, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood. The original timelines for build out of the West Don Lands area was to take place in three strategic phases, over the next 10-12 years, subject to market conditions. With the acceleration, more than half of the community will be in place for the Games in June 2015.

At the same time, design, construction and planning approvals are already well underway, which will allow the development of the Village to be completed well in time for the Games. Key infrastructure components, including those required for the Athletes’ Village, are already underway as part of the broader West Don Lands revitalization, and will be completed well before the Games. Cost-effective, on-time delivery is of the highest importance to Waterfront Toronto and all stakeholders.

The Village in the West Don Lands will be a unique legacy of the Games. It will be a foundation of the new, sustainable, mixed-income, mixed-use neighbourhood in the heart of the city that will reduce urban sprawl, create affordable housing and community sports facilities, provide easier access to public transit and reduce the environmental impact of development.