A Toronto theatre that has served as a local staple for performances and rising artists could soon become the latest casualty of the city’s never-ending condo boom, though there is still hope the venue could be reborn within this future redevelopment.
The Factory Theatre has operated at 125 Bathurst Street for almost 55 years, but the theatre’s chair, Len Racioppo, issued a statement this week signalling the potential end of the local venue.
Racioppo wrote on Tuesday that due to the theatre’s age and the mounting costs required to renovate the complex, the Factory Theatre’s “goal is for a new or major redevelopment of the existing structure.”
“The theatre is over 100 years old,” said Racioppo, noting that the building “has never had a major refurbishment.”
“It is expensive to maintain given its age and outdated heating and cooling systems. On many occasions, it has made it an uncomfortable environment.”
The timing of the decision so late in the city’s building boom, amid waning real estate prices, may have many wondering why the question of redevelopment is coming in 2024.
However, Racioppo explained that “a sale of the property has never been the preferred option because we have not found any other home for Factory that provides the proximity to downtown Toronto and public transit. Government assistance in the form of a capital investment has not been forthcoming.”
The Factory Theatre board says it had a plan that would have involved the handover of land to create a new City park, with proceeds funding a rebuild of the theatre, but the Parks department did not accept the proposal, leading to the current decision to shop the site around to developers.
“Factory has spent considerable time with private developers and plans that would result in the ownership of a rebuilt theatre on our current site alongside of apartments or condominium units,” wrote Racioppo.
“We have come close to getting a deal done but could not close due to the lack of potential density and the added costs of preserving our heritage structures.”
Though no deals have been publicly signed and there have been no planning applications filed with the City as of late November 2024, the theatre’s board assures the public that “if we were to ever reach an agreement, the community at large would, of course, be notified for consultation.”
The theatre was listed for sale in 2020 at an undisclosed price, though the property is not active on any real estate listing sites as of writing.
Other independent theatres in Toronto have benefitted from the city’s years-long construction boom, including the Crow’s Theatre at Dundas and Carlaw, which opened within the base of a condominium development in 2017.
Meanwhile, blocks surrounding the Factory Theatre were scooped up by developers and built out with residential developments in the mid-2010s.
However, the board seems to have realized that they may have missed the boat on the condo craze, writing that the process “has been disappointing, and the current real estate environment appears to have placed a pause on any activity.”
“We continue to operate in our existing building, and management, along with the board, work hard to manage all the additional expense it brings. The creation of art and stories has not been held back,” says Racioppo.
But the clock appears to be ticking for the Factory Theatre, with the board chair writing that the venue has had to “navigate one of the most stressful periods that Canadian Theatre has experienced in recent memory.”
“In the post-COVID environment, costs have escalated beyond any inflation index measure, and audiences have not returned to pre-COVID levels. The entire Canadian theatre community is feeling the stress, but we have remained financially strong.”
