This month, the City of Toronto has been holding sessions and workshops for the 32 Lisgar Creative & Cultural Hub REOI, including an in-person budget seminar and online recordings for applicants. Unfortunately, the language and process reflect ongoing structural problems that were baked in long before this Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) was announced.

As a longtime community member and TMAC supporter who received the City's latest outreach put it: beneath the recruiting language and offers of support, there's "a whiff of desperation." And after more than a decade of broken promises, that sounds about right.

Bluntly: the City is once again asking arts organizations to absorb risk and uncertainty for a facility that remains unfinished and wildly deficient, bogged down with hidden costs, and the legacy of decisions that shifted responsibility away from the developer and onto grassroots community groups.

Quick refresher:

  • 32 Lisgar was designed as a purpose-built media and cultural hub delivered through a Section 37 community benefits agreement negotiated between TMAC, the condo developer Urbancorp, and the City of Toronto. TMAC spent years designing, planning, and raising funds for this facility.
  • In April 2015, despite the facility being substantially complete, the City directed Urbancorp not to close the sale with TMAC. Rather than enforce the developer's obligations, the City allowed Urbancorp to default, forcing TMAC to launch a legal claim against Urbancorp and the City to protect its rights to the space.
This isn't the first time the City has tried to run an REOI for 32 Lisgar.

On June 25, 2015, the City publicized and held a public consultation at Parkdale Library, signalling its intent to move forward with an request for proposal (RFP) process, despite TMAC's ongoing legal action asserting our rights to the space.

The result was a raucous meeting attended by 255+ community members, plus local and national news media. When city staff asked if anyone didn't want TMAC in the space, there was silence -- followed by applause for TMAC.

City staff repeatedly stated "TMAC didn't close" while TMAC stated we were "ready, willing, and able to close" -- with a cheque in hand on the closing date -- but the City and Urbancorp chose not to close with TMAC.

"We were robbed of our opportunity to rightfully close on this property... We were there on that outside date registering our intent to tender with a cheque ready to go."
-- Henry Faber, TMAC President, June 25, 2015

That community mandate was ignored. The City continued its legal battle against TMAC for another six years.

After a February 2018 settlement that granted TMAC interim occupancy, the City imposed new financial requirements tied to an incomplete building, undisclosed operating costs, unknown HVAC expenses, and serious accessibility issues. We flagged these costs repeatedly and were given the runaround.

In 2018 the City allowed 9,000 sq ft of the facility to be severed and sold during Urbancorp's bankruptcy

The Committee of Adjustment decision reduced the community benefit from ~38,000 sq ft to ~30,000 sq ft. By July 2021, TMAC was forced to vacate when its interim occupancy was cancelled amid prolonged legal and financial strain. At the same time, the City allowed a portion of the space originally intended for Images Festival to be used commercially by Urbancorp (?!), in direct contravention of the land use agreement.

After TMAC was forced out, the City launched an REOI in 2022 to find a new operator, but withheld full building condition reports, hidden costs, and unresolved deficiencies from applicants until late in the process. That process stalled, and now we're here again!

When arts organizations are asked to plan budgets, build programs, and commit to long-term occupancy, the underlying assumption should be that the space is stable, finished, and without undue financial risk.

That hasn't been the case at 32 Lisgar. The roots of that problem go back to a decision made in a May 2015 meeting no one will account for, where someone at the City instructed Urbancorp to block TMAC from closing on a space the City and community had already approved.

Instead of enforcing contractual obligations, the City shifted responsibility for an unfinished building onto the arts sector. Now, in the current REOI process, potential tenants are being asked to absorb costs and assume risk for the same incomplete infrastructure that the City failed to protect original community partners from.

This is the continuation of a pattern where bureaucratic convenience has been prioritized over accountability, transparency, and respect for community knowledge and investment.

We will continue to monitor the 32 Lisgar process and share updates as this unfolds.

Current REOI details