An old airport in Toronto is being transformed into a new development for almost 55,000 residents.
The former Downsview Airport will be refurbished into seven walkable neighborhoods with housing, businesses, and public parks.
A spokesperson for the developer told Business Insider that the project is expected to cost around $30 billion Canadian dollars, or around $22 billion.
Downsview Airport was first used as an air base for the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II and was most recently a testing facility for the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Garcia Creative/Northcrest Developments
Bombardier sold the site to PSP Investments in 2018 for around $635 million, the Journal reported. The company created Northcrest Developments to manage and oversee the project.
But unlike some previous airport developments, where original infrastructures were scrapped, Northcrest is leaning into the site’s unique elements.
For example, the former runway will be a focal point of the area, connecting all seven neighborhoods with a pedestrian street that will be just over a mile in length.
Garcia Creative/Northcrest Developments
It will be seen as “the spine of community life,” according to a project document obtained by Business Insider.
“It’s hard to make a planned community seem authentic when everything is brand new,” Derek Goring, chief executive of Northcrest Developments, told the Journal.
“So we really decided to lean into the aerospace legacy,” he added.
Goring said Northcrest had once considered scrapping the entire site and starting afresh but decided it “was not a good idea,” adding that the maintenance and reuse of historic buildings had shown success in other development projects around the world.
Garcia Creative/Northcrest Developments
He added that the airport’s original hangers, built between the 1950s and 1990s, would be the ideal space for film production, light manufacturing, and clean tech companies.
“So there’s an opportunity to attract companies that actually want to be here but can’t because they can’t find these types of locations,” he said.
The project, which is expected to take 30 years to complete, will boast 28 million square feet of residential space and 74 parks and green spaces.
It will be able to house nearly 55,000 people and create 22,000 jobs.
The first of the seven neighborhoods, the Hanger District, is in the initial development phase and is expected to create 2,850 new homes and 7,000 jobs.
It’s not the only project of this kind. Developers in Greece are transforming a former Athens airport into an $8 billion smart city that will have the country’s first skyscraper, a high-end mall, and a sports park.
Speaking to BI, the developers said they wanted to create a “zip-code paradise” that would combine coastal scenery with technologically advanced, sustainable infrastructure.
They estimate that the project’s first phase will be completed by 2026.
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