A Toronto French theatre company needed a permanent home. They found one under 400 tenants

They’re finally getting one, and it may even come with its own audience, as the theatre will soon anchor a 400-unit purpose-built rental project near Danforth and Greenwood avenues.

“We’re hoping that the venue will attract other Francophone organizations and other artists to come and perform,” said Ricard. 

The project includes a 14-storey non-profit building at 1117 Danforth Ave. that will include 27 rental replacement units, 40 affordable homes and 41 rent-controlled market units, built by Neighbours Community Homes, a non-profit housing provider. A second 13-storey building at 1111 Danforth Ave., built by developer Woodbourne, will hold the remaining 297 market-rate units.

Together, the two connected buildings will provide more than 400 rental homes as well as the theatre space.

It’s the latest development in a series of mixed-use projects that combine residential with social or cultural spaces across Toronto, including the city’s first public school at the bottom of a rental apartment tower.

The Danforth project, which broke ground in July, replaces a two-storey rental apartment building and a funeral home.

Plans for the theatre include a 200-seat black box venue, a simple decorless space with flexible seating that can accommodate varying productions, such as spoken word poetry or dance productions.

“It’s very hard to create new theatres,” said Hugh Clark, executive director of the city’s Housing Development Office. “It’s a unique offering to the city.”

One important aspect is ensuring it can coexist with the hundreds of tenants living above the theatre. 

Building a theatre within a residential building requires isolating the vibrations, sound and music so they don’t reach the residential units, which typically have “stringent sound requirements,” said Clark.

“You want to be sure people get to enjoy their homes and don’t hear the constant sound of traffic outside or activity, or in this case a theatre down below.”

The developments are separate projects but the builders are co-ordinating construction and planning to create “a true kind of mixed income development” and reduce construction costs, said Clark.

Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher said she was happy the project broke ground before the end of her term when she will retire. She called the development a “win-win-win” for mixing affordable housing with a new cultural space.

The French theatre blends in and will serve a diverse Francophone community in the east end, she said. “It will revitalize that section of the Danforth and it will be quite exciting and beautiful.”

This project is one of 50 affordable housing projects under construction across Toronto, which together will create 14,000 new homes, according to the city. 

Caron and Ricard hope to have the theatre up and running in time for the 2029-2030 show season.

The pair said they were excited to “leave a legacy” after years of waiting for the groundbreaking.

“We’ve never gone as far as this,” said Caron. “The stars lined up.”