Three shortlisted proponents who have expressed interest in redeveloping the Collingwood Terminals have until July 22 to get their final proposals to the Town of Collingwood for consideration, and work is underway by all three to create designs, draft explanations and refine their visions.
“It’s a tight timeline. We have work to do to really showcase what we have in mind,” Les Mallins, president of Streetcar Developments Inc., told CollingwoodToday.ca. “It’s going to be a busy couple of months, but we’re going to work hard at it and hopefully, the team that reviews it likes what they see.”
While specifics are proprietary and final proposals are still being crafted, Mallins says all three proposals will likely have some common ground.
“I think that ultimately, everybody’s proposals will likely be a mix of residential and non-residential, hopefully, cultural uses,” he said. “I’d like to think that anybody’s proposal would likely include expanded access and connectivity from the community down to the spit.”
Late last week, the town announced that three proponents had been selected to present the town with formal, detailed proposals on what they’d like to do with the Collingwood Terminals if given the chance.
The three selected developers were Diamante Urban Corporation, Fram Building Group Ltd., and Streetcar Developments Inc. paired with Dream Unlimited Corp.
“We’re quite happy we’ve been shortlisted. Now we’re getting into that level of detail,” said Mallins.
Back in February, KPMG Consulting, which has been hired by the town to help run the process of choosing a developer for the Terminals redevelopment, first introduced council to the process they would be following.
The town first put out feelers through a request for qualifications (RFQ) process, where developers were asked to submit information on their own backgrounds which could include financial information, company information including experience and a brief summary of their vision for the site.
Six developers put their names forward as part of the RFQ process. The town chose three developers to move forward to the next stage.
The request for proposals (RFP) process will now commence, with the three developers coming up with a detailed proposal to be submitted to the town by July 22. The proposals meeting the criteria of a technical evaluation will then be advanced to an interview stage.
In order to “uphold the integrity” of the RFP, the town has said proponents are not permitted to engage with the public until the successful bidder is determined, and the public will not be given the details of the three proposals until after the successful proponent is chosen.
The town is anticipating the preferred proponent will be selected in August.
Mallins said that regardless of what Streetcar and Dream propose for the site, there will be some overarching principles that will inspire their planning.
“It needs the waterfront to be a destination for everybody: local residents, visitors, tourists. Just filling it with single-family homes would be doing a disservice to the town,” said Mallins. “Any proposal we would come forward with would make it a more inviting destination for everybody. That makes it very special.”
When it comes to the Collingwood Terminals as an important heritage feature, Mallins said the project jumped out to Streetcar and Dream because of their previous work on heritage buildings in the Greater Toronto Area.
One of Streetcar’s more well-known developments is the Broadview Hotel in Toronto.
The Broadview Hotel was built in 1891 by wealthy serial entrepreneur Archibald Dingman. Over the years, the hotel changed many hands and names. By the 1970s, it had become a boarding house with a strip club housed on the ground floor called Jilly’s, which served as the east end’s most notorious landmark for almost three decades. In May 2014, Streetcar Developments purchased the property, converting it into a boutique hotel.
“It brought the building back to the community of Riverside,” said Mallins.
Streetcar’s partner in their Terminals proposal – Dream Unlimited Inc. – is also one of the developers behind rejuvenating Toronto’s Distillery District.
“Both Streetcar and Dream have a fondness and passion for heritage buildings in general,” he said. “If they’re on the waterfront, even better.”
“Buildings that are special and unique to the community and where the community is almost craving to have a new relationship with the building. I think the Terminals fit into that category,” said Mallins.
Representatives from Diamante Urban Corporation and Fram Building Group Ltd. were contacted for this story but did not respond by publication time.
