Lakeshore Kraft Plant to close

With the continuing demand for real estate in our city, it's not surprising to see large in-town factories repurposed for the future, but there’s still some sadness in it.

Yesterday, Mondelez Canada, the parent company that owns the Kraft brand, announced that they are closing the plant after more than 60 years of calling the area home. The 625,000-square-foot biscuit manufacturing facility employed more than 500 workers.

"This is a difficult decision, given the role this facility has played within our organization and in the community for 64 years; however, the plant faces some unique challenges resulting from the changing neighborhood surrounding the facility," said Alvaro Cuba, V-P Operations for Mondelez Canada.

"While this was an appropriate location for a large bakery when it was first built, the significant residential development surrounding it has led to operating constraints that will become increasingly difficult with the further residential expansion that is underway. With the facility's aging infrastructure, and underutilized manufacturing capacity, further investment is not a viable option. Therefore, we have determined it is best to close the facility because it no longer supports our strategy of making the most efficient use of our manufacturing assets," he said in a release.

Councillor Peter Milczyn told the Toronto Star that he had already seen the initial plans for the area.

“They have already submitted documents to the planning department looking at changing it,” he said. “They’re already showing a development concept with 27 condo towers on it.”

For clarity, Mondelez Canada suggests that it’s much too early to talk about any redevelopment plans.

While we never like to see anyone lose a job, there was no doubt that this was coming. The biggest surprise, at least to us, is the fact that it occurred as quickly as it did. The factory was slowly becoming obsolete for an area that was transitioning from industrial to residential, but we expected the change to occur much closer to the completion of projects in the area.

We have no doubt that the new site will include condos, but 27 seems to be much too aggressive, and as Councillor Milczyn suggested, the focus should be on bringing infrastructure to the area around Humber Bay, while perhaps adding some new residential suites that will help ease the demand for new homes for the 100,000 people moving into the city on a yearly basis.

What are your thoughts on this revelation? What do you think should replace the Kraft plant?

Comment below.