A committee led by Mayor Olivia Chow is expected to approve a 40-year lease for Toronto’s WNBA expansion team, the Toronto Tempo, at a rate of just $1 per year for a city-owned parcel of land.
The recommended site is a surface parking lot at 701 Fleet St., northeast of Strachan Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West, which the city may value at $10 million or more.
A report prepared for the executive committee proposes converting the lot into a practice facility and public park as “in-kind consideration” for the nominal lease.
The lease allows for two optional 20-year extensions at market rates. In the fifth year, the team must pay either a $2 million lump sum or begin 35 annual payments of $100,000 toward city programming at the site.
The agreement would replace roughly $491,000 in annual parking revenue with $800,000 in new yearly operating costs for the city.
The Tempo would construct a 60,000-square-foot practice facility and a public park at no capital cost to the city, featuring outdoor courts, washrooms, and landscaping shaped by community and Indigenous engagement.
Public recreation programming at the practice facility would be available primarily during the WNBA off-season from November to March.
The team is expected to bear $100 million in construction costs for the facility. The site sits near the Princes’ Gates and the 8,000-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum, where the Tempo will play home games.
The city values a group of similar underused parking lots at over $100 million collectively, and the Fleet Street location near Coronation Park and condominium towers could exceed $10 million in value.
The proposal aligns with council priorities supporting women’s sports, gender equity, and park improvements, according to the committee report.
The mayor has described the project as a partnership that turns an underused site into a facility serving both athletes and the public while strengthening the city’s role in women’s sport.
The Tempo are owned by Kilmer Sports Ventures, led by Larry Tanenbaum. The report compares the deal to past city leases for Lamport Stadium and professional practice facilities for the Raptors and Maple Leafs.
The executive committee vote is scheduled for Tuesday, with a final City Council decision expected later this month.
