Inside the $22 billion plan to turn a defunct airport into a booming city

A defunct Canadian airport is set to be transformed into a sprawling community big enough for 83,500 residents.

Developers have already begun the process of remodeling Toronto's Downsview Airport, which has been closed since March, after the city council greenlit the plan in May.

Northcrest Developments plans to reimagine the 370 acres of land into seven neighborhoods over the next 30 years, which it believes could support 41,500 jobs. 

And city officials are hoping to expand it even further eventually accommodating a total of 115,000 residents and 52,000 workers in repurposed Downsview once construction is done, according to a draft plan.

The ambitious project is expected to cost $30 billion Canadian dollars, or around $22 billion. 

But instead of razing all the original airport infrastructure, Northcrest is preserving 11 airplane hangars and more than a mile of runway to give its first neighborhood a unique feel.

Downsview Airport, which opened in 1929 and later served as a base for the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, will be the site for an ambitious new planned community

Rendering of the proposed pedestrian street along the former runway framed by mid-rise building with a variety of activities occurring along its length including outdoor dining and retail shopping

'It's hard to make a planned community seem authentic when everything is brand new,' Northcrest CEO Derek Goring told The Wall Street Journal. 'So we really decided to lean into the aerospace legacy.'

The old hangars will be the center of this first 50-acre mixed-use district, which will have 2,850 housing units mainly inside mid-rise apartment buildings. Over 40 percent of the apartments will have at least two bedrooms, according to the developer's website.

The runway will become a pedestrian walkway lined with retail shops, restaurants, public patios, schools and a library.

Sarah Phipps, the city planner who is also overseeing the project, said a series of parks will also connect to the runway.

'It's going to take a while to develop but it's going to attract people from all over the city,' she told the Toronto Star. 

Initial plans hope all the new activity will create 7,000 jobs in this neighborhood, so residents can work near where they live.

Rendering of a proposed broad underpass below the rail corridor. It also features a greenspace that will connect to Downsview Park, which already exists

Rendering of people enjoying an community event in a large proposed open space surrounded by mid-rise buildings and natural landscape elements

Downsview Airport opened in 1929 as a private facility and was then expanded and used as an airbase for the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. 

The airport was used as a testing site for Bombardier Aviation, an aircraft manufacturer. Bombardier sold the site to a Canadian pension manager, which created Northcrest to facilitate further development.

Northcrest considered demolishing everything on site for a fresh start, but Goring concluded it wouldn't be a good idea.

Locals told the WSJ that they wanted the land maintained as much as it possible so the site's history of building planes for World War II could be preserved.  

It isn't immediately clear what the hangars, built in the 1950s and 1990s, will be used for, but Goring insists they have practical use beyond stowing away airplanes.

The Downsview Airport is pictured on February 6, 2024, a little over a month before it would be decommissioned

People fill the tarmac for last year's 'Play on the Runway' event, which featured numerous attractions and a stellar view of Toronto's downtown. This is roughly where Downsview's first community will be built

Since they are between 600 and 750-feet long and 150-feet wide with 40-foot ceilings and no internal support columns, the hangars are optimal for film production, light manufacturing and clean technology.

And wide-open spaces are rare in Toronto.

'There's an opportunity to attract companies that actually want to be here but can't because they can't find these types of locations,' Goring said.

Northcrest already opened the Downsview area to the public for events. 

One of the biggest is called 'Play on the Runway,' which for the last two years has allowed people to wander an open tarmac with food trucks, impromptu pickleball courts and a DJ playing a variety of music.

Next year, Northcrest plans to build temporary sports fields and performance venues on empty spaces that will be developed later on in the process.