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Yesterday morning, members of the Toronto Foundation board of directors and Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area (Habitat GTA) were joined by Mayor John Tory to celebrate the ground breaking of a new stacked townhome community in Scarborough. Located at 140 Pinery Trail in the Malvern neighbourhood, the 50-unit, Giannone Petricone Associates-designed project will be constructed in three phases, and upon completion, will be the largest residential development ever built the Habitat GTA organization.
The project will include 3, 4, and 5-bedroom townhomes, geared towards employed, low-income families. Families will eventually take ownership of these units through a no-interest mortgage capped at 30% of their annual household income and 500 ‘sweat equity’ volunteer hours of construction work per family. Thanks in part to a $1.5 million social impact investment loan to Habitat GTA from the Toronto Foundation, the first block of towns is expected to be completed by 2017. This loan will eventually be paid back by the 15 families after taking ownership of their new homes.
Prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony, remarks were heard from Ene Underwood, CEO of Habitat for Humanity GTA, Richard Peddie, Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, Toronto Foundation, and Mayor John Tory. “We rely on organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Toronto Foundation as critical partners in building affordable housing for families in the city. Today’s launch of Habitat for Humanity’s largest build project ever in Toronto and Toronto Foundation’s investment in this project is exactly the kind of action we were hoping for when we launched the Open Door program. The City is happy to support this project and do what we can to make it easier to build affordable housing at a faster pace,” declared Mayor Tory.
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