lSpecial to Ontario Construction News
The Toronto Rail Yards, a 14-acre mixed-use community planned for a deck above an active GO Transit rail corridor, has been officially unveiled by the LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada and its partner, Fengate Asset Management.
Currently in the approvals stage, the project is being developed by a team led by international architecture and design firm Henning Larsen, along with Toronto-based firms Hines, PCL, WW+P Architects, and RJC Engineers.
The project would include nearly 4,000 homes, two child-care centres, 915,000 square feet of office space, 50,000 square feet of retail space, and more than two acres of parkland, all on a deck to be built above the rail tracks south of Front Street West between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue in downtown Toronto.
The team plans to begin site preparation in 2028, with construction of the 6-acre deck following shortly after. Construction will be completed in phases to minimize disruption to the surrounding urban fabric and the active rail operations below.
Henning Larsen revealed the design, a mixed-use neighborhood situated above an active railyard in Toronto’s Fashion District. The project integrates 4,000 new homes, two childcare centers, and extensive commercial space within a 6-acre deck spanning the transit infrastructure between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue. The design team includes Hines, PCL, WW+P Architects, and RJC Engineers to deliver this large-scale urban intervention.
The development includes 915,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of retail space to the district. A new 6-acre structural deck serves as the foundation for the entire architecture program, creating usable land above the rail tracks. The masterplan emphasizes a walkable community and establishes direct views of the CN Tower from various points within the site.
The development team is working with the City of Toronto on planning approvals and air rights over the Bathurst rail corridor, with excavation and site prep for the first phase, the 6.3-acre deck over the Bathurst North Rail Yard, scheduled to begin in 2028.
To extend over the rail yard and connect with GO and the city’s broader transit network, the deck alone is expected to create 4,600 construction jobs, said Joseph Mancinelli, LPFCEC chair. The three-to-3.5-year construction project will begin later in 2028 after site prep is complete, with mixed use towers phased in afterward.
“The creation of new land above a functioning rail corridor makes Toronto Rail Yards one of the most technically complex urban developments in the city, and a significant opportunity to add housing and public space,” Henning Larsen said in a statement.
“Delivering a community of this magnitude above an active rail corridor takes vision, discipline and deep execution capability,” added Fengate Real Estate president Jaime McKenna.
