A shuttered bus terminal in the heart of Toronto is set to live on within the base of an ambitious new development.

The City of Toronto and CreateTO, an agency managing the City's real estate assets, announced plans for the future of the 1931-built Toronto Coach Terminal site at 610 Bay Street and an adjacent lot on Thursday.

City staff were on hand to reveal details about two new buildings set to bring much-needed rental housing, emergency services and medical space to the downtown core.

A new chapter for Toronto’s historic coach terminal!

CreateTO, on behalf of the @cityoftoronto, is proud to announce Kilmer-Tricon as the team to redevelop the City-owned land at 610 Bay and 130 Elizabeth Street. The development will be 100 per cent purpose-built rental,… pic.twitter.com/7sFkZfr6sc

— CreateTO (@_CreateTO) November 21, 2024

Thursday's announcement revealed developers Kilmer Group and Tricon Residential (Kilmer-Tricon) as the preferred proponents for the redevelopment of the City-owned sites, chosen from a shortlist of seven companies announced in 2023.

The project brings together a team of architects that includes the renowned Chicago-based firm Studio Gang working alongside local firms architects–Alliance and Smoke Architecture, with acclaimed Montreal-based landscape architecture firm CCxA in charge of the public realm design.

A 16-storey slab-style building designed by Studio Gang is set to rise from above the facades of the existing Art Deco bus terminal on Bay just north of Dundas, with a taller 41-storey building on lands across the street to the north at 130 Elizabeth Street, designed by architects–Alliance.

The design of these buildings is quite a departure from the concept plans floated last year produced by Cicada Design, with the updated plan introducing a revised massing and a unique pairing of buildings unlike anything in Toronto today.

Big plans in the works to redevelop Toronto bus terminal https://t.co/Oa7gZ9EqgL #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 15, 2023

The shorter slab-style building to the south would have its massing broken apart into a pair of visually distinguished volumes, topped with green roofs. 

The taller tower to the north boasts a shifting grid pattern with punched windows of varying sizes, creating an undulating wave effect that appears to flow through the tower faces. Just above the tower base, a large reveal is carved away from this pattern, framing an indoor space draped in greenery.

According to CreateTO, "The design of the development is rooted in the Indigenous principle of the Seven Directions of Connectedness while celebrating the historical importance and character of the iconic Art Deco Coach Terminal."

These buildings are to contain a combined 873 purpose-built rental units, with 290 of them to be designated as affordable rentals. 

Mayor Olivia Chow was on hand for Thursday's announcement, saying "We need to build more affordable homes in Toronto. That's why I am so pleased that this project will transform the former Toronto Coach Terminal into not only new rental and affordable housing, but a thriving hub with healthcare facilities and space for small business to start and grow."

In addition to this sizeable rental component, the complex is also proposed to include a brand-new Toronto Paramedics Multi-Hub measuring 23,000 square feet, a new state-of-the-art organ repair centre for heart, lung and liver transplants, and a prominent public plaza fronting the site.

"It's truly encouraging to see this project deliver essential services such a paramedics hub, and an organ care centre through the UHN partnership, along with critical housing options for frontline workers and others looking to house themselves in the downtown core," said local City Councillor Dianne Saxe.

"610 Bay St. will be a model initiative that combines heritage, sustainability and much-needed services, while addressing the growing housing need in Toronto. I look forward to seeing this thoughtfully designed building and the surrounding space becoming a reality."

In addition to serving public needs for housing and emergency/medical services, the site will also host a new public plaza from CCxA, described in a press release as an "urban oasis that will incorporate a series of 'outdoor rooms' nestled between green vegetation."

Green aspects of the complex will be more than just visual, with the buildings targeting Tier 2 of the Toronto Green Standard and the Canadian Green Building Council's Zero Carbon Building Design Certification.

The bus terminal site is one of eight City-owned properties that have been earmarked for affordable housing and other program uses under the ModernTO program, which aims to modernize City office space and better utilize its land assets.