Construction begins on $1.4 billion athletes' village in Toronto

Model of Athletes' Village for 2015 Toronto Pan American Games displayed at groundbreaking ceremony.

Officials from three levels of government broke ground for the new athletes’ village in the west Donlands area of Toronto yeaterday, with the government of Ontario insisting that preparations for the 2015 Pan American Games are moving ahead on time and on budget.

The minister responsible for the Games, Charles Sousa, said the $1.4-billion project will proceed even though the province is trying to tighten its belt to deal wtih a $16-billion deficit. Calling it an investment for the long-term that will bring returns over time, Sousa said that this development is different from other, similar projects undertaken elsewhere because “we already have the buyout and the payout at the tail end . . . The question is, making sure it gets done on time, because we know it's going to be done on budget."

Once the two-week games are over, the village’s facilities will become rental housing, a student residence for George Brown College and a 7,600-square-metre YMCA recreation centre.

According to the province, the athletes’ village will be the largest construction project of the games and will create “more than 15,000 jobs” over the next four years.

Ontario’s share of the project is $515 million, and Dundee Kilmer Developments LP has the contract to build the village. It received its first instalment of $21 million in December. The province will pay a second instalment of $100 million in April 2013 and another $393 million once the project "achieves substantial completion." The final payment also covers the cost of removing temporary facilities and converting the village after the Games.

The province said it will recover about $65 million in development costs from future facility operators and Dundee Kilmer will develop additional blocks of market housing.

The value of the finished project is estimated at $3.7-billion.