Midtown Urbanist
Superstar
With the Grosvenor/Grenville and West Don Lands sites in downtown, Infrastructure Ontario engaged in pre-market soundings with the development industry to determine the right mix of density and affordability that would attract interest from potential bidders, before taking those projects to market.
I'm not sure if CreateTO does something similar with the HousingNow sites, but one would have hoped that someone along the way would tell them that these conceptual plans are way too under-built compared to what is possible to push for at some of these prime locations. They might be motivated by profit, but for better or for worse, no Toronto developer would have looked at this land and proposed such little density. It feels almost as though we would be better off selling these sites to the private sector without a land-lease deal, and just impose inclusionary zoning to ensure whatever does get built, includes affordable units.
I'm not sure if CreateTO does something similar with the HousingNow sites, but one would have hoped that someone along the way would tell them that these conceptual plans are way too under-built compared to what is possible to push for at some of these prime locations. They might be motivated by profit, but for better or for worse, no Toronto developer would have looked at this land and proposed such little density. It feels almost as though we would be better off selling these sites to the private sector without a land-lease deal, and just impose inclusionary zoning to ensure whatever does get built, includes affordable units.