South Core is a neighbourhood located in downtownToronto, Ontario, Canada. The South Core occupies the eastern portions of the Railway Lands. The remodeling and restoration of Union Station and the construction of a new wave of business and condominium towers is central to this area's forecast growth.
Forecasters expect the downtown population to grow 80 per cent to 130,000 by 2031. With the financial district just to the north and the new high-rise South Core on the other side, Union is right at the centre.[1]
The area has grown rapidly in the last several years.[2] Toronto's Gardiner Expressway is currently being rebuilt to provide a new one-acre park in the area. Two ramps to the expressway at York and Bay streets are being removed to make room for the park.[3]
History
The South Core was once part Toronto Harbour and now lies on land fill done from the 1850s to 1920s to accommodate railway lines. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, the Gardiner Expressway was erected, cutting off much of the city from the Toronto waterfront as rings of highways were built around many North American cities as was the trend at the time.[4]
In previous decades, much of the land was unusable due to its designation as rail lands. Today, that stigma is gone as multiple business and condominium towers have risen and more continue to be built. The name South Core derives from south of the downtown (or financial) core of the city.
The district is bounded on its western side by Lower Simcoe Street, its eastern side by Lower Jarvis Street, its northern side by the railway tracks and southern side by Lake Ontario. [citation needed]Union Station lies within the district as well.
The area is a re-imagining of portions of the Railway Lands and is connected to the city through the extensive PATH network of underground walkways connecting Union Station, Scotiabank Arena and other notable landmarks.
But in the past few years, something remarkable and unexpected has happened. The barrier effect, once considered permanent, has faded away. Development has jumped over the railway tracks to create a teeming new district becoming known as the South Core. Office and condominium towers are nudging right up to the Gardiner, clustering both north and south of Fred Gardiner’s elevated behemoth.[5]
In October 2013, Delta Hotels announced a new flagship hotel central to South Core.[6]
Maple Leaf Square, a multi-use complex and public square next to Scotiabank Arena, sometimes plays host to live broadcasts of sporting events on the video screen facing Bremner Boulevard. Real Sports Bar & Grill, one of North America's largest sports bars, is located inside Maple Leaf Square.
Harbour Plaza is a new condominium project being built at York Street and was supposed to have Target Canada as the major tenant, but Target has pulled out of the Canadian market, leaving the space without a tenant.[7]
Sugar Wharf is a mixed use development under construction.
Toronto Transportation Commission's Harbour Yard located on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard from Bay to York Streets was used to store streetcars from 1951 to 1954. It is now the site of Waterpark Place office towers and parking lot.
Italics indicate neighbourhoods now defunct. For information on the evolution of each neighbourhood in general, see History of neighbourhoods in Toronto.
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Canada
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