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Increasing urban development new home prices have put a profound strain on Toronto's affordable housing situation over the past few years. The introduction of new economic and planning incentives, such as the City of Toronto's Open Door Program, are now priming the landscape for a new wave of affordable housing developments, with 15 city-owned sites currently earmarked for new affordable housing. Among these sites is a large plot of land which has sat vacant as surplus land for almost 20 years, bounded by Lansdowne Avenue on the east, Paton Road on the south, Wallace Avenue on the north, and a light industrial facility on the west.
On the morning of September 27, Mayor John Tory and Ward 18 Davenport City Councillor Ana Bailão were both on hand to announce that the City is making the plot of land at 640 Lansdowne Avenue available to private and non-profit developers to construct a new affordable housing development. The Lansdowne site along with the 14 other city-owned properties—valued at a combined $106.3 million—will add up to a total of 1,750 rental homes and 641 affordable ownership homes. This will add to five existing sites that have already been approved to support 262 rental homes and 147 affordable ownership homes.
Mayor Tory declared at the event, "We need to do everything we can to build more affordable housing in Toronto. Making City land available to private and non-profit builders will help deliver more affordable housing to people who need it. As a city, we are doing our part but we can no longer do it alone. We need the federal and provincial governments to take action. Without real partnerships, our cities will become more and more unaffordable, affecting people of all ages and backgrounds.”
The announcement is one element in a multi-agency effort by the City and partners from Build Toronto, Toronto Community Housing (TCH), the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Waterfront Toronto to open up affordable housing opportunities. In the last 18 months, City Council has approved the construction of 522 units of affordable housing across the city. The Open Door Program is expected to continue building affordable housing opportunities well into the future thanks to the City of Toronto's commitment of up to $225 million in incentives and $106.3 million in land over the course of the next five years.
Tomorrow, the Mayor and Councillor Bailão will team up again to host the 2016 Toronto Housing Summit: Taking Action on Housing, which aims to pressure the provincial and federal governments to step up their roles in Toronto's mounting affordable housing crisis, as well as other Canadian cities.
"There is a real housing crisis in Toronto and across Canada," said Councillor Bailão. "This crisis can only be solved when all levels of government come together, leverage their resources, foster innovation and create a different way of doing things."
We will be sure to return with additional details once more information about the planned affordable housing development becomes available. In the meanwhile, you can join in the discussion by visiting the project's Forum thread, or by leaving a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.
