Almost 8 years after the City of Toronto's Planning Department recommended approval of an 82-unit affordable housing development located at 200 Madison Avenue in Toronto's Casa Loma area. To be called Madison View, revised plans for the site have been put into motion with a recent application for Site Plan Approval from Madison View Homes Inc., after funding issues scuppered the previous plan. 

Northeast view, 200 Madison Avenue, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Vacant for nearly 10 years, the site was the location for an April 27, 2015 event attended by Mayor John Tory, who vowed to fast-track affordable housing across the city. A Request for Proposal for Development and Operation of Affordable Rental Housing was submitted a few weeks after that announcement, followed by an application last week for a new design by McKnight Charron Limited Architects.

Northwest view, 200 Madison Avenue, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

The proposed six-storey, U-shaped building would rise from a 2,389 square metre site, immediately south of the Toronto Archives site at the intersection of Madison and Macpherson. Renderings of the revised plan reveal a combination of cladding types, with a one-storey base clad in dark masonry veneer, and a mix of aluminium-framed window wall and two tones of pre-manufactured engineered panels above to add some visual variety to the otherwise simple rectilinear massing.

Northwest aerial view, 200 Madison Avenue, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

While the originally proposed unit count of 82 remains unchanged from the earlier proposal, the mix of units types has been adjusted to reflect changes in demand. The new proposal calls for 43 one-bedroom units at an average size of 61.3 square metres, 28 two-bedroom units at an average size of 70.2 square metres, and 11 three-or-more-bedroom units at an average size of 111.5 square metres. The building would support a maximum population of 320 occupants.

North view, 200 Madison Avenue, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

The project is being funded by all levels of government alongside developer Madison View Homes, which was incorporated for the sole purpose of developing the site. Parent company Mahogany Management has been developing commercial buildings in Southern Ontario since 1990, and has now has 16 years experience developing affordable and supportive rental housing. It is contributing $7 million of the costs, which is being matched by the Government of Canada. The Government of Ontario is contributing $6.2 million, while the City of Toronto is contributing $5.5 million in the form of land and waived development fees and property taxes.

We will return with updates as new details about the project emerge. In the meantime, you can view renderings and project facts in out dataBase file. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the space provided at the bottom of this page.

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