Today, City Council endorsed the City’s ongoing negotiations with Canada Post to purchase the former Showline Studios at 915 and 945 Lake Shore Blvd. E. in order to keep them as an active studio complex in Toronto’s Port Lands.
The Showline complex with 32,000 square feet of studios has hosted international productions such as the X-Men and My Big Fat Greek Wedding and more recently was a studio location for the Academy Award Best Picture winner Spotlight and for CBC’s Kim’s Convenience.
As directed by Council in October, the City, through the Toronto Port Lands Company (TPLC), began to pursue the purchase of the Showline Studios property from Canada Post which had entered into a purchase agreement for the land located at this location through a competitive process to turn it into a parcel distribution centre. On November 17 the transaction closed and the property was transferred to Canada Post.
“This strategic investment will help maintain internationally respected studio spaces in the city, which is needed to sustain Toronto’s position in a very competitive North American market. Our actions will show that the City is committed to retaining creative spaces in the Port Lands, which is known as a historic hub for film and television production in the city,” said Mayor John Tory. “We are very pleased to be collaborating with Canada Post to make this important transaction possible.”
“Immediate action is required to help save this studio from conversion to other uses,” said Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth), Chair of the City’s Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Board. “Multiple years of record investments have proved that Toronto is a preferred production location, which has also resulted in our studio spaces being booked to capacity. Our intervention is required at this pivotal time to retain a key existing resource.”
Following Council’s approval the City will now move as quickly as possible to close the transaction and get the three studios in the complex back on stream for movies and television productions. The City will be seeking a new manager and/or user operator for a lease of the film studios, and ultimately a sale of the studio businesses and property.
The City’s significant short-term investment and collaboration with Canada Post will preserve a valuable studio asset for Toronto’s film and television industry. As part of the City’s involvement, TPLC is also negotiating the parallel sale of surplus land in the Port Lands to Canada Post. More details will be made available upon the completion of the transactions.
The film, television and digital media industry is a major economic driver for Toronto. In 2016, domestic and foreign film, television, digital and commercials production investments in Toronto achieved a record $2.01 billion that directly employed over 35,000 people.
This transaction reinforces one of the recommendations from the Council adopted industry report Spotlight on Toronto: A Strategic Action Plan for the Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Industry, which called for immediate actions to preserve existing studio spaces when possible and to create opportunities for new studio-related infrastructure and address the growing demand for location filming.
Toronto has one of the top five screen-based (film, television, commercials, animation) industries in North America and has been enjoying multiple years of record investments.
This news release is also available on the City’s website: http://ow.ly/nPeo30h5iUr.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. In 2017, Toronto is honouring Canada’s 150th birthday with “TO Canada with Love,” a year-long program of celebrations, commemorations and exhibitions. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TorontoComms and on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto.
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