Adaptive Reuse of Industrial Buildings in Toronto, Ontario: Evaluating Criteria for Determining Building Selection

Abstract

Infill development, including the reuse of vacant and derelict industrial buildings, is a desirable form of development as municipalities face the pressure of continuous growth. There have been numerous industrial sites in Toronto that have already been redeveloped through adaptive reuse, but there are still sites that remain underutilized, and additional sites continue to become vacant across the city. As the prior use can no longer be supported, these buildings are demolished in order to construct new buildings, or they undergo adaptive reuse. The purpose of this report is to explain how the environmental, locational, legislative, market and financial characteristics of industrial buildings located in Toronto affect whether they are chosen for adaptive reuse. Additionally the similarities and differences between public and private sector adaptive reuse projects will be studied. This report will complement existing research completed by others on the characteristics of adaptive reuse projects in Ontario, and provide more specific information regarding the industrial adaptive reuse market in Toronto. The case study approach used in this report consists of eight industrial adaptive reuse projects in the City of Toronto. Interviews with the developers were completed to gain valuable insight into the factors that were present and affected the selection of the building. The analysis involved reviewing the data from the interviews to identify the similarities and differences between the characteristics of the developers’ projects. Based on the analysis of the interviews, four recommendations were made. These recommendations are provided with the goal of assisting developers during the selection of industrial buildings in Toronto to undergo adaptive reuse. Each recommendation considers the characteristic that a building and site should or should not possess. Recommendation 1: The site should not contain ground water contamination Recommendation 2: Use concrete buildings if planning an addition Recommendation 3: Select a building with interior demising walls removed Recommendation 4: Select a building that has financial or development incentives promoting reuse