Why not build condos at Ontario Place?

On Victoria Day, Premier Kathleen Wynne jogged onto the unused, windswept grounds of Ontario Place and made an announcement: If re-elected, her government won’t allow any condos on the site as part of ongoing revitalization efforts. Instead, she promised the new Ontario Place would be home to a new park, shops, restaurants and a music venue.

It was a calculated announcement, seemingly designed to win her Liberals support in downtown Toronto ridings where condo developers are often cast as moustache-twirling villains intent on building very tall things. In that sense, it seems to have been a success. But looking beyond the vagaries of the ongoing election, I’m not convinced Wynne’s decision was the right one.

Because, really, why not build condos at Ontario Place?

This is, after all, a site located within spitting distance of downtown Toronto, which has seen a bunch of job growth over the last decade. That makes it a prime location, with great potential for density and mixed-used development. It needs better transit connectivity, but building that infrastructure would be relatively cheap — especially compared to the cost of providing high-speed rail to far-flung Ontario municipalities.

In an era where we are so consumed by the problem of gridlock, it’s critical to remember that there are two main ways for governments to fight it. The first is to invest in better public transit. The second is to give people opportunities to live closer to where they work.

Residential development at Ontario Place could provide that opportunity for a lot of people.

I understand why this might cause some concern. The history of Toronto’s waterfront is marked by too many hasty deals where lakefront land was handed to condo developers with little concern for architectural quality, public access to the lake and affordability. Profits were prioritized over people.

We can’t make those same mistakes with Ontario Place. Not again.

But that doesn’t mean we should shut the door on residential development entirely. It just means governments need to embrace better planning and a more coherent vision — one that isn’t all about selling land to the highest bidder.

We’ve got good local examples for how to do this right: examples like the St. Lawrence neighbourhood, where parkland, market condos, affordable housing, retail, heritage buildings and cultural spaces all work together in a dense community with good transit connectivity. That model has been adapted for the ongoing revitalization of Regent Park and Waterfront Toronto’s development of the eastern waterfront. It’s a model that seems to work.

And if it works, is there really a good reason the government shouldn’t look at that same model for Ontario Place? I don’t see one. Beyond electioneering, I’m not sure Kathleen Wynne does, either.