Ontario Construction Report staff writer
Waterfront Toronto has launched a call for contractor proposals to build the first residential buildings on a planned island community called Ookwemin Minising in the city’s Port Lands redevelopment district.
Waterfront Toronto, the organization overseeing the Port Lands project, announced on June 11 that it had issued a request for qualifications for a development partner for Ookwemin Minising, a mixed-income waterfront community formerly known as Villiers Island.
Ookwemin Minising is a 22-hectare island surrounding a new park in the Port Lands created as part of Waterfront Toronto’s ambitious Port Lands flood protection project. The Port Lands is an industrial and recreational neighbourhood on the former Don river delta about five kilometres south-east of downtown.
This RFQ marks the beginning of a multi-decade buildout, with the first development block to deliver about 700 units, with a target of 30 per cent affordable rental units. More than $1.4 billion in tri-government investments has been committed for flood protection, parks and bridges, streets, utilities and public spaces to support up to 14,000 new homes on Ookwemin Minising and nearby Quayside.
Waterfront Toronto says waterfront revitalization will generate 100,000 skilled trade jobs and contribute approximately $13.2 billion to the local economy.
“Ookwemin Minising represents a generational opportunity to build a complete waterfront community. Thanks to strong collaboration between all levels of government and Waterfront Toronto, we are delivering new homes, including affordable housing, on public land,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said in a statement.
“With 174 hectares of land now flood protected and unlocked for new communities, Toronto’s eastern waterfront is no longer a promise on paper; it is a place taking shape in real time, with new parks, transit, and future neighbourhoods,’ added Waterfront Toronto CEO George Zegarac.