STAFF REPORT September 27, 2005 To: Administration Committee and Toronto Transit Commission From: Chief Corporate Officer and Chief General Manager, TTC Subject: 2005 Status Update Report Optimizing Revenue from Development Potential of Transit Sites (Various Wards) Purpose: To provide a status update with regard to the review to optimize revenue from the development potential of transit sites. Financial Implications and Impact Statement: There are no immediate financial implications arising from this report. Initiatives to facilitate the development of transit sites may in some cases be self-financing, while in other cases they may require investment in properties or the acquisition of additional properties to ensure that some transit sites can be developed to their highest and best use. Recommendations: It is recommended that this status report be received for information. Background: Since mid-2001, a Working Group comprised of staff from Facilities and Real Estate Services, Legal Services, Planning, Finance and the TTC and chaired, formerly by the Commissioner of Corporate Services, and since May 2005, by the Chief Corporate Officer in liaison with the Chief General Manager of the TTC, has been reviewing transit sites and reporting on its progress in identifying, prioritizing and promoting those transit sites with the highest development potential and marketability. The working group is called Development of Transit Sites (DOTS). - 2 - By its adoption of the recommendations of Clause No. 6 of Report No. 1 of the Administration Committee, as amended, on February 1, 2, and 3, 2005, Council approved the previous status report and directed that in future status reports be submitted twice a year, that the Toronto Transit Commission be advised that the Rosedale property should be removed from the list of potential development sites, and that negotiations to acquire 3326 Bloor Street and 915 Kipling Avenue in the West District study area may be undertaken. This report provides an update on the work program progress to the end of August 2005. With the City’s structural changes this year and the installation of a new Chair of the DOTS group, a fresh overview was taken of the role, mandate and interrelationships among the members of the DOTS group. This overview has collaboratively culminated in a written terms of reference for DOTS. Comments: (1) Priority Transit Sites: Some of the transit sites have a development potential that can be realized in the short term through the Property Management Committee (PMC) process and the development of a disposition strategy. Many of the properties require longer term planning and strategic corporate initiatives prior to being able to realize their development potential. Appendix 1 provides a summary of the progress to date and status of the 15 TTC transit sites which are the current focus of the DOTS work program, accompanied by location and property maps. The individual site summaries identify a high, medium or low probability for redevelopment, depending on the scope of issues to be resolved before offering the property for development. One property, 2756 Old Leslie Street, is currently being marketed and information packages are being prepared to put another transit site on the market, the Sheppard/Yonge site. A Request for Proposals for the Eglinton/Yonge property is intended to be issued once the TTC has finalized its operational requirements for the site and the Focussed Planning Review for the Yonge/Eglinton area is approved by Council. The DOTS group has identified its focus for 2005/2006 to be the following sites: Warden Bloor-Islington Yonge/Eglinton Yonge/Sheppard Downsview Davisville (2) Area Planning and Other Studies: (a) Warden Station Area City Planning is nearing completion of an area planning study of the Warden Corridor north and south of Warden Station. A series of community meetings has been held during - 3 - the course of this study, including a community workshop held on June 4, 2005 and a community information meeting on June 22, 2005. The community was generally supportive of the planning framework and the proposed redevelopment and revitalization of the Warden Corridor lands with new residential and mixed use developments. The community provided feedback with respect to the size and orientation of two proposed parks, one north of St. Clair Avenue East and one south of St. Clair Avenue East, and the provision of a community centre (proposed in the park north of St. Clair). A number of development applications have been proceeding concurrently with the study and have also been the subject of community meetings. It is anticipated that the Warden Corridor Planning Study Phase 3 Implementation Report will be considered by the Planning and Transportation Committee in October 2005. The report will include a new Warden Woods Community Secondary Plan, urban design guidelines and a new Warden Woods Community Zoning By-law that would rezone the Warden North and Warden South commuter parking lots to permit commercial and residential uses. The other lands within the Warden Corridor will be rezoned through site- specific zoning by-laws when the individual development proposals are advanced. In parallel with the Warden Corridor Planning Study, TTC has developed a strategy to relocate the Warden North and Warden South commuter parking lots to the Hydro Corridor adjacent to the Warden South lot and the Warden bus terminal to the south to free up lands for redevelopment. Assuming funding is available, relocating commuter parking in the Hydro Corridor could free up to approximately 12 acres of City land in the northeast quadrant of Warden and St Clair for redevelopment as early as 2008 (Phase 1). Phase 2 would involve the demolition of the existing bus terminal and the construction of a fully accessible bus terminal on the Warden South commuter parking lot concurrent with relocation of commuter parking. This second phase could free approximately 3 acres of land for development on the southeast corner of Warden Avenue and St. Clair Avenue East as early as 2009 or 2010. TTC staff has advised that Phase 1 and Phase 2 development projects are contingent on financing over and above the TTC base capital budget. Engineering studies are currently underway for the conceptual design of the proposed new bus terminal and commuter parking. (b) Victoria Park Station Area The Victoria Park Station Area Planning Study has progressed concurrently with Phase 1 and 2 of the Warden Corridor Planning Study. However, Planning staff intends to provide a separate Victoria Park Station Planning Study Phase 3 Implementation Report in 2006. It is expected that this report will address the official plan and zoning policies for the Victoria Park station site and include a conceptual plan addressing park improvements, streetscapes and paths. TTC staff has prepared a redevelopment concept for Victoria Park station that proposes demolishing the existing decked bus terminal in order to construct an at-grade, fully accessible bus terminal. It is proposed that funds currently budgeted for the replacement of the deck will be utilized to construct the new bus terminal and conceptual design work is - 4 - currently underway. Funding for this initiative will be included in the TTC’s 2006 base budget. This approach would make available a development site between the new bus terminal and Denton Avenue. Regardless of when new development may occur, the new bus terminal will need to be constructed, as the existing deck has reached the end of its structural life and should be replaced in some configuration by 2008. (c) The West District Study As authorized by Council in February, 2003, the West District Study is underway to examine the possibility of creating a new West District Service Centre on the Bloor- Danforth Subway line in Etobicoke. Led by Facilities & Real Estate staff, the study is considering the Bloor-Islington lands (one of the transit sites), the Westwood Theatre lands and the Etobicoke Civic Complex lands, and is co-ordinated with both the Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration and Environmental Assessment Study and the Kipling- Islington Bus Operations Study. The West District Design Initiative (WDDI) charette for the Etobicoke Civic Centre lands was completed in December 2004. (d) Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration and Environmental Assessment Study Staff of Transportation and Planning are commissioning an Environmental Assessment study for the reconfiguration of this interchange adjacent to the Kipling Station area, and plan to hold a public meeting on one or more reconfiguration options by the end of 2005. Reconfiguration is intended to free surplus interchange lands for redevelopment, improve vehicular access to the Westwood Theatre lands and the Kipling Station area, and create a more urban, pedestrian-friendly environment through and around the interchange. (e) Bloor-Islington Area The Bloor-Islington lands will be part of a Request for Qualifications that is intended to be part of the West District Study, and are included in the West District Design Initiative, an urban design study process endorsed by Council on July 22, 23 and 24, 2003 (Clause No. 1 of Report No. 7 of the Administration Committee). The WDDI public charette component for the Westwood and Bloor-Islington lands would commence after Council’s approval of the preferred Six Points redesign. Redevelopment of the Bloor-Islington lands is not considered practical without relocating Mississauga Transit (MT) operations to Kipling Station. In an effort to minimize the constraints imposed by the non-TTC transit-related uses on the Bloor-Islington lands so that these lands can be more easily developed, the TTC and the City have undertaken a Kipling- Islington Bus Operations Study in conjunction with MT, GO Transit and the City of Mississauga (Transportation Planning). The Bus Operations Study has evaluated options for moving non-TTC bus operations from the Bloor-Islington lands to Kipling Station. The study has been completed, and a public meeting on the study findings was held on October 27, 2004.