2.2K 
A major new proposal for the adaptive reuse of the historic Richard L. Hearn Generating Station in Toronto's Port Lands has just been posted on the City of Toronto's development pages. Designed by PARTISANS and SvN for Cortel Group and Studios of America, the Official Plan Amendment application outlines a masterplanned, multi-block redevelopment of the over 30-acre site at 402 and 440 Unwin Avenue. Dubbed The Hearn District, UrbanToronto will provide a more detailed breakdown of the proposal in a follow-up story later today.
The Richard L. Hearn Generating Station, built in the 1950s, is a mid-20th-century industrial landmark that served as a coal-fired power plant until its decommissioning in 1983. Featuring a 213m-tall smokestack and a sprawling footprint equivalent to three city blocks, the Hearn is a defining feature of Toronto’s Port Lands.
The proposed redevelopment envisions a mixed-use community comprising eight new buildings of an undetermined height, with a total Gross Floor Area of 739,567m². The proposal includes 7,495 residential units, offering a mix of market, affordable, workforce, and family housing, alongside 37,400m² of cultural, commercial, and recreational space. The heritage building itself would be transformed into a hub with retail, entertainment, and production spaces, potentially augmented by residential additions above.
Public spaces would include new parks, plazas, and promenades connecting the Hearn site to the surrounding waterfront. Smokestack Plaza and Hearn Plaza would provide outdoor gathering spaces, while The Portage would link the Ship Channel to the Outer Harbour with landscaped pedestrian paths. Improved connectivity includes a proposed realignment of Unwin Avenue, with plans accommodating a future Waterfront East LRT. The plan projects the creation of 2,000 to 2,500 jobs, leveraging the adaptive reuse and new mixed-use development to stimulate economic activity.
UrbanToronto will replace this story with a more in-depth look at the application later today.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
* * *
UrbanToronto has a research service, UTPro, that provides comprehensive data on development projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
