A staff report before city council is recommending that Old City Hall be leased out as retail space when a lease agreement for the building ends with the province in 2021.
Currently, the building is leased out to the province to be used as court space, an arrangement that has been extended a number of times since the lease was signed in 1972. The report recommends extending the current lease for five years until a new provincial court facility can be built. But afterwards, a long-term partner should be sought to lease the space, the report recommends.
An analysis by brokerage firm Avison Young explored possible uses for the building after the courts vacate and came up with a number of options.
“The results of the analysis concluded that the highest and best use for Old City Hall would be conversion to a retail centre that contains a mix of food service, leisure, event and civic uses,” the city report says.
Another possibility for the building, already an official national historic site, includes a City of Toronto Museum that could either be housed in the courtyard or in some other configuration within the building.
Whatever uses it eventually takes on, the city report notes that the building is a notable public landmark and advises that “it is important for the building to be conserved as a showpiece of the city’s portfolio.” It also says it is “paramount” for the building, which served as Toronto City Hall from 1899 to 1966, to remain publicly accessible.
The report recommends that the city undertake the process to find a new tenant for the building within five years. However an agreement with a new tenant would only take effect once the province moves out. Ontario’s new “super court” facility is due to be complete in 2023.
The report will go before the city’s Government Management Committee Monday.
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