The City of Toronto has dealt another blow to a local industry bid to reopen the former Toronto Film Studios soundstages, as it shortlists the property for a planned streetcar storage yard.

The 22-acre site on Eastern Ave., on which the mothballed TFS complex stands, has now been shortlisted by the Toronto Transit Commission to store and maintain 204 new light-rail cars being purchased for Toronto.

The TTC is also eyeing the nearby Hearn Plant, a former power station which was partly developed as a film studio and today stands idle.

But the Open629 committee, a coalition of Toronto film unions and guilds denied planning permission to build a retail mall at 601/629/633 Eastern Ave.

But turning the TFS site into a rail yard is no done deal.

Toronto city councillor and TTC chair Adam Giambrone tells Playback Daily that the nearby Ashbridge’s Bay site is his preferred location for the facility, but it too faces local opposition and technical issues.

Giambrone said 629 Eastern Ave. is a close second choice because it could accommodate the TTC’s tight schedule to build and open a rail yard by 2012, when the first light-rail vehicles arrive.

The TTC is unlikely to choose the old Hearn plant as it would require extensive demolition and land remediation, putting the carhouse construction behind schedule.

The councillor said Rose Corp. knows the TTC covets 601/629/633 Eastern Ave. If selected, Rose Corp. will either negotiate a land sale or face expropriation, a costly move that would put Toronto on the hook for its own and Rose Corp.’s legal costs.

Rose Corp. is currently appealing the rezoning decision that blocked plans for a retail mall. The property developer retains a right to develop the site for industrial purposes.

Giambrone dismissed the noise and vibration concerns of nearby studio operators, as he argued the TTC has rail yards in residential and commercial neighborhoods elsewhere in Toronto, including a yard just up the road from 629 Eastern Ave.

The councillor said he will meet next week with local film industry representatives in a meeting being arranged by the Toronto mayor’s office.

Another hurdle to the planned TTC rail yard in Toronto’s studio district is Ottawa has so far refused to help pay for the new fleet of 2,004 light-rail cars.