The Toronto Film Festival appears to be facing problems finding a new venue to screen press and industry films after its long-time home, Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre, was sold, with plans to develop a twin condo tower to replace it.
Canadian real estate investment company RioCan owns a piece of land where Canada’s largest movie theater chain Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theater has long operated. RioCan has applied to the City of Toronto to change the zoning at 259 Richmond Street West, at the corner of Richmond and John streets in downtown Toronto, to allow for a condominium development on the current RioCan Hall site.
The Scotiabank Theater, the long-time host of TIFF Film Buyers and Sellers P&I screenings, will be used to develop two apartment buildings, one 137 meters high and the other 143 meters high. Accommodates 613 residential and retail spaces.
The proposed mixed-use building would replace a multiplex cinema operated by Cineplex. Michelle Saba, vice president of communications for Cineplex, which sponsored the 2024 Toronto Film Festival volunteer program last September, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement: “While discussions are ongoing to redevelop the site, these It’s all long-term planning, and it’s business.
Representatives from the Toronto Film Festival were unable to be reached for comment Thursday after THR asked about the festival having to find new venues for P&I screenings. Whether the Toronto Film Festival can still use the Scotiabank Theater, located near TIFF’s Bell Lightbox headquarters, for the 2025 festival, may depend on demolition plans for the downtown property.
Toronto’s Hariri Pontarini Architects’ RioCan Hall redevelopment plans suggest a new theater could be coming to a large condo development, but not necessarily one that would screen movies. “The existing theater and retail space will be replaced by two new towers, which will bring high-rise residential units, retail and office space, as well as a new theater and daycare centre,” the architecture firm said on its website.
Representatives of RioCan could not be reached for comment Thursday.
