Project Profile:
The Hearn
Harbourlands recognizes that the Hearn is privately owned and subject to an active redevelopment and planning process. The illustrations shown here are conceptual and do not presume the outcome of that process. They illustrate how the Hearn and surrounding lands could contribute to a larger, connected waterfront destination.
The Hearn District -A Proposal by Studios of America Corporation / Cortel Group
NOTE: Harbourlands is an independent proposal and is not affiliated with the Hearn District development.
Where Industry Becomes Culture
A remarkable vision for the Hearn is already taking shape.
Studios of America Corporation, a partnership that includes Cortel Group, has proposed The Hearn District, a major redevelopment centred on the adaptive reuse of the historic Hearn Generating Station. Its vision combines the industrial landmark with new public spaces, cultural and commercial activity, mixed-use development and a substantially expanded public realm.
The proposal shares an important principle with Harbourlands: the Hearn should not be treated as an obstacle to redevelopment. It should become one of Toronto's great waterfront destinations.
Harbourlands would build on that ambition by connecting the Hearn westward to the proposed Harbourlands Centre, Ookwemin Minising, the Toronto Islands and Harbourfront, and eastward to Tommy Thompson Park.
The opportunity is larger than either project alone.
A revitalized Hearn could give convention delegates, tourists and Torontonians another major reason to visit the eastern waterfront. The Harbourlands Centre could bring new visitors within reach of the Hearn. And a connected waterfront transit and public-realm network could allow both destinations to reinforce one another.
Together, they could help transform the eastern waterfront from a collection of individual projects into one of Toronto's great visitor destinations.
The Harbourlands Centre would bring people to the eastern waterfront. The Hearn District would give them another reason to stay.
Two Destinations That Make Each Other Stronger
The proposed Hearn District and the Harbourlands Centre could serve complementary yet distinct roles.
The Harbourlands Centre would bring conventions, exhibitions, major events and visitors to the eastern waterfront. The Hearn District would surround them with something convention centres rarely have: a remarkable industrial landmark, cultural attractions, restaurants, public spaces and a distinctive waterfront setting.
That relationship works in both directions.
A revitalized Hearn would make the Harbourlands Centre a more compelling convention destination by giving delegates places to explore before and after events. The Harbourlands Centre would bring a steady stream of visitors to support the Hearn’s restaurants, cultural venues, entertainment and other businesses.
The Hearn as an Industrial Landmark
One of the great strengths of the Hearn District proposal is that it treats the generating station not as an obstacle to redevelopment, but as its defining feature.
The immense turbine hall, industrial structure and smokestack give the site something that cannot be reproduced in a new development: authenticity, scale and a direct connection to Toronto’s industrial history.
The Harbourlands vision would reinforce that role.
Approaching from the Harbourlands Centre, the waterfront or the Island Line, the Hearn should emerge as one of the great landmarks of the eastern waterfront — a visual destination drawing people farther into the Port Lands.
Adaptive reuse would allow Toronto to preserve that history while giving it a new economic and cultural life.
From Urban Waterfront to Urban Wilderness
The Hearn occupies one of the most unusual locations on Toronto’s waterfront.
To the west lies the emerging urban waterfront — Ookwemin Minising, the proposed Harbourlands Centre, the Islands and downtown Toronto. Immediately to the east lies Tommy Thompson Park, one of the city’s most extraordinary natural landscapes.
The Hearn District proposal recognizes this transition. Its landscape vision incorporates rewilding, open space and the idea of an “industrial wilderness” in which the site's industrial heritage and natural environment coexist.
Harbourlands would extend that idea beyond the development's boundaries.
The Waterfront Line streetcar, waterfront trails and public realm would connect the Hearn directly with Tommy Thompson Park in one direction and the rest of Toronto's waterfront in the other.
The journey would become part of the experience: city, harbour, industrial heritage and wilderness connected along one waterfront.
A Transformation That Can Begin Now
The Hearn does not have to wait for the entire Harbourlands vision to be realized.
Its revitalization can advance through its own planning process. The Harbourlands Centre, waterfront transit and improved connections to Tommy Thompson Park can be studied and developed alongside it.
That creates an opportunity to transform the eastern waterfront incrementally.
Each investment would make the next one more valuable: a revitalized Hearn strengthens the case for better transit and visitor infrastructure; better connections increase the value of the Hearn; and a major convention and event destination would bring additional activity to the district.
Harbourlands is not one project that must be built all at once. It is a framework for aligning individual waterfront investments.
Connection Creates Value
The greatest opportunity is not simply what happens at the Hearn, the Harbourlands Centre, the Toronto Islands or anywhere else along the waterfront. It is what happens when these destinations are connected.
A successful Hearn District would strengthen the Harbourlands Centre by providing convention delegates and visitors with more places to explore, dine, and experience. The Harbourlands Centre would attract new visitors and generate economic activity in the Hearn. The Island and Waterfront Lines, waterfront trails, and public realm would connect to the Islands, Harbourfront, Ookwemin Minising, and Tommy Thompson Park.
Each destination can create value on its own. Together, they can create substantially more.
That is the opportunity behind Harbourlands: not a collection of individual projects, but a connected waterfront in which every new investment makes the others more successful.
Connection creates synergy. And synergy creates value.