CityPlace hasn’t been CityPlace for very long.
The massive mixed-use development stretches across a large parcel of brownfield that was once Toronto’s Railway Lands and until the mid-’90s, a neglected corridor.
Following west-coast developer Concord Pacific’s 1997 waterfront land acquisition, the groundwork was laid for what today is a 45-acre, mostly residential community from subsidiary Concord Adex that is nearing completion. (As two of our recent photo tours show, the site has come to include public art and builds on heritage architecture, too.)
CityPlace is bounded by Front Street to the north, Blue Jays Way to the east, Lake Shore Boulevard to the south, and Bathurst Street on the west. As part of our ongoing then-and-now series — which also includes Bloordale and Regent Park — we’ve compared present day CityPlace shots by James Bombales with historic photos of the area.
Spadina Avenue south of Bremner, 1986
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 75, Item 13
Railway tracks looking west to Bathurst from Spadina Bridge, 1986
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 75 Item 5
Railway tracks looking south-west from Front Street west and Spadina Avenue, 1986
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 75 Item 10
Looking north on Navy Wharf Court to Chinese railroad workers’ memorial, 1980s
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 37 Item 16
Looking south on Draper to Gardiner Expressway, 1980s
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 37 Item 5
Looking south on Portland from Front Street, 1980s
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 37 Item 7
Front Street West looking east from Portland Street, 1910
Bathurst looking south to Lakeshore and former Loblaws Groceteria, 1936
Former Loblaws Groceteria Bathurst Street and Lakeshore Boulevard, 1929
Historical photo: City of Toronto Archives, Globe and Mail fonds, Fonds 1266, Item 15571
