GO Transit offers to buy part of Union StationNov. 25, 2008 GO Transit offers to buy part of Union Station Nov 21, 2008 04:30 AM A GO Transit deal to buy part of historic Union Station from the city may help pay for badly needed renovations to the building and give GO the prime head office address it has been seeking. The regional transit agency is offering to buy about 90,000 square feet of vacant space in the west wing of the city-owned station for an undisclosed price. GO already owns the train shed, track area and the rails from about Strachan Ave. to the Don River. "If the Air Canada Centre is centre ice for the Leafs, this is centre ice for GO Transit," said GO board chair Peter Smith. "The city's going to deliver to us a base building that we can outfit to meet our specifications. "We know there's an opportunity to play a prominent role in the revitalization of Union Station." If the sale is approved by Toronto City Council next month, and by the province, it would mark the beginning of a new partnership between the city and GO to revitalize the transportation hub, which sees more daily traffic than Pearson International Airport. The Great Hall and maintenance of the station would remain under the city's jurisdiction, as would a proposed retail development. Under the agreement, GO would pay for creating a northwest path that, along with improvements to the concourse area, would help ease rush-hour crowding as commuters try to reach the subway and downtown office towers. GO, which would move about 150 of its 200 office employees into the station in 2013, wasn't interested in a lease, Smith said. "GO is a natural partner," said Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, chair of city council's government management committee, which is to review the proposal today. "I can't imagine any member of the committee being concerned that this is bad or something." |