This century-old Mirvish theatre is slated for demolition and Toronto’s arts community says loss is significant

Mirvish’s CAA Theatre, the downtown Toronto performing arts venue that has hosted countless shows over its 112-year history, may soon be no more.

The theatre at 651 Yonge St. is set to be razed and redeveloped into a 76-storey, mixed-use building, according to application documents filed with the city and obtained by the Toronto Star.

The proposal comes as a rash of other live performance venues have shuttered across the city in recent years due to rising rents, and booming residential and commercial development.

If the project moves forward, theatre artists and producers say the theatre’s closure would mark an immense loss for the city’s performing arts industry.

Closure would be “real loss” for Toronto arts community

The smallest of Mirvish’s four venues, the 700-seat CAA Theatre has been a bridge between local theatre artists and Mirvish’s wider audiences. For about a decade, the theatre has hosted the Off-Mirvish series, and it’s the company’s sole venue to consistently present productions by Toronto theatremakers and artists.

“It would be a real loss for the theatre to close,” said Joel Greenberg, artistic director of Studio 180, an independent theatre that has presented six shows at the CAA Theatre in partnership with Mirvish. “The loss would be significant because the mid-size performance experience is removed when the CAA Theatre formally closes.”

Development proposal for mixed-use, highrise building

The development application for the site was filed with the city on Sept. 15, records show. In an interview, city planner Abraham Plunkett-Latimer confirmed the application has been received and circulated among the various city departments. A community consultation was held Feb. 1.

The proposed project, which is subject to a zoning bylaw amendment, will include about 53,988 square metres of residential space and 678 dwelling units, according to the application.

The ground floor will contain “high quality” retail space, with cultural and residential areas above, the proposal states. Based on the application, the proposed development will not include a performing arts venue, Plunkett-Latimer said. Only the facade of the theatre is slated to be preserved.

Construction timeline estimate

KingSett Capital, the private equity real estate investment firm developing the site, did not immediately respond to repeated requests for comment, including questions surrounding the project’s timeline.

Generally, there is a back-and-forth process between the developers and the city to address certain concerns in the application, Plunkett-Latimer said, adding that the timeline depends on whether the applicant is willing to work with stakeholders and fix the issues raised.

In this case, Plunkett-Latimer believes it will be “at least a couple of years” before construction starts though, if all goes smoothly, the rezoning request could be approved within the next few months.

Mirvish Productions still featuring shows at CAA Theatre

John Karastamatis, Mirvish’s director of sales and marketing, said in an emailed statement the organization is “committed to running the CAA Theatre as a home for a variety of works that fall between small and large spaces for as long as it can.”

There are three upcoming productions scheduled through April 23: “God of Carnage,” “The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It” and “The Simon & Garfunkel Story.”

Mirvish’s new season is to be announced March 7. The Off-Mirvish season announcement is delayed.

A venue known by many names

Property records obtained by the Star show the CAA Theatre was sold by Ed Mirvish Enterprises Limited in December 2015 for $15 million.

Throughout its 112-year history, the theatre on Yonge Street just south of Bloor Street has been known by many names. It was constructed in 1911 and originally intended as a private residence.

In 1919, it was converted into a movie theatre called the Victory. Some 15 years later, it was renamed the Embassy and, subsequently, the Astor, the Showcase and the Festival. Under the latter name in the 1970s, it was the primary hub for the Toronto International Film Festival.

The venue was converted yet again in 1993, this time into a theatre for live performance, and renamed the New Yorker. The original building was demolished and rebuilt in 2004 and 2005 — only the facade was preserved — reopening as the Panasonic Theatre.

After a brief ownership by Live Nation, the theatre was purchased by Mirvish in 2008 for just under $9 million, according to property records. When Mirvish announced a new partnership with the Canadian Automobile Association in 2018, the theatre was handed its current name.

Missing mid-sized theatre venues in Toronto

For Greenberg, working at the CAA Theatre has been a “wonderful and remarkable experience.” He noted that the Off-Mirvish series has allowed smaller companies like his to increase their public profile.

“I don’t know if Mirvish has plans to open a space of a similar size, but there’s no question that if it does close, it will reduce the potential for what we can do, and it undeniably will change the public profile of independent and smaller theatre companies in the city,” said Greenberg,

Losing the CAA Theatre would exacerbate the dearth of mid-sized theatres in the city, said Paul Beauchamp, co-executive director of the Musical Stage Company, which has presented shows at the CAA Theatre in partnership with Mirvish.

While there are scores of smaller, black-box venues across Toronto, and a handful of larger houses like the Princess of Wales and Elgin theatres, there’s a missing middle of performances spaces with a capacity of between 500 and 800 seats.

Like Greenberg, Beauchamp said the CAA Theatre and the Off-Mirvish partnership was “transformative” in helping expose his company’s work to wider audiences.

“When you remove mid-sized theatres, there’s like a stepping stone that goes missing,” he said. “There’s a missing developmental space for the creators, the actors, the designers.”

The CAA Theatre, however, isn’t the first Mirvish theatre slated for redevelopment. About a decade ago, the Princess of Wales Theatre on King Street West was to be razed to make room for a new mixed-use complex designed by Frank Gehry. The plan was later revised to spare the 2000-seat theatre.

Clarification — Feb. 27, 2023: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that the Off-Mirvish season announcement is delayed.

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