Former airport sites have been redeveloped before, though usually that involves razing the buildings and starting over.

But The Wall Street Journal reports on a $22 billion redevelopment in Toronto, Canada, that will include the hangars and part of the runway of the former Downsview Airport.

“Those old hangars, for instance, will anchor the project’s first neighborhood: a 50-acre residential district with 2,850 homes, mainly in mid-rise apartment buildings. The runway will be preserved as a pedestrian thoroughfare lined with stores, restaurants, public patios, schools and a library,” reports the WSJ.

“Overall, Northcrest Developments) and its partners are creating more than 28 million square feet of residential space, 7 million square feet of commercial property and 74 acres of parks and open spaces. The development is expected to take 30 years to complete and is being built in phases across seven distinct neighborhoods, making it one of Canada’s largest real-estate projects.”

Downsview Airport was an airfield, then air force base, it has been a testing facility for Bombardier Aerospace from 1994. In 2018, Bombardier sold the property to Northcrest, according to Wikipedia.