Toronto 11 Brock Avenue | 19.19m | 4s | City of Toronto | SvN

innsertnamehere said:
4 storeys? really? At least bump that to 6 storeys and deliver 60-70 units instead. We all know the city desperately needs them.
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Councillor Perks (and City Planning) did not want to do more on this site -- as it was "Yellow-Belt" NEIGHBOURHOOD zoning.

Our HNTO volunteers model for this site back in 2021 was 10-Storeys / 100-units of regular "affordable housing" -- not "supportive housing" Studios.

11_BROCK_AVE_MYP.png
 
While I could, in theory support the 10 storeys in the letter from @HousingNowTO above, I don't think the politics or Planning would have gone for it. (at the time)

I think @innsertnamehere hit the nail on the head with 6 storeys.

We could have fun discussing the virtues of that, but I'm just being pragmatic, the six-storey policy for height directly abutting Queen was in effect at the time, and the precedent rightly cited in the letter was 5 1/2 storeys.

Those two things lay the foundation for being able to get six storeys through.

There is certainly an argument for discussing whether setbacks could be sufficiently used to meet the policy goal of six storeys max (or 4); which is human-scale at street level and minimal shadows while still getting more total height and unit count.

I think we cal all agree 4 storeys is an under utilization of the site.

Though, that is complicated by the change in use from affordable housing to supportive housing, as large concentrations of the latter tend to have higher adverse impacts on neighbours and get more blowback. That said, the City's current, informal policy has been to go with up to 60 units of the latter at most sites. (they have gone higher at some).

Here, with the curent concept each additional floor nets 16 more units so 5 floors would have yielded 58 units, and six 74 units. * ( That is w/o factoring in changes in elevator requirement which might subtract one unit per floor)

*****

A more conventional affordable housing model would produce fewer units, something in the range of 8-12 per floor depending on number of bedrooms.
 
Apart from possible resource constraints without having a private sector developer to partner with, often the city ends up being too diplomatic because they don't want to add "too much" new housing. They would rather not rock the boat in terms of zoning parameters, especially when it comes to being in the midst of yellow belt heavy areas. And they also try to avoid being a catalyst in raising density and height precedents.
 
AlbertC said:
Apart from possible resource constraints without having a private sector developer to partner with, often the city ends up being too diplomatic because they don't want to add "too much" new housing. They would rather not rock the boat in terms of zoning parameters, especially when it comes to being in the midst of yellow belt heavy areas. And they also try to avoid being a catalyst in raising density and height precedents.
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Well, there is some truth in the idea that if you've laid down a set of guidelines you expect the private sector to follow, you probably ought to follow them yourself.

There is, of course a very fair discussion to be had on the appropriateness of the guidelines in various spots, but I digress.
 
innsertnamehere said:
4 storeys? really? At least bump that to 6 storeys and deliver 60-70 units instead. We all know the city desperately needs them.
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Agreed. Cheap wood-frame construction can be up to 6 floors. Adding a 7th floor adds significantly to the cost.

AFAIK adding the 5th/6th floor gets into some fire-rating strengthening and dynamic analysis requirements but it's not a costly.
 
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Photo 2024-08-17, 12 38 40 PM.jpg


Photo 2024-08-17, 12 38 52 PM.jpg

A pristine -- and ungraffiti'ed SIGN at at the old 11 BROCK (former LCBO) site in Parkdale today.

For comparison, the private-market building at QUEEN & BROCK located less than 100 metres away is now 12-Storeys / 222- Units -
urbantoronto.ca

1354 Queen Street West | UrbanToronto

1354 Queen Street West, Toronto by 1, Giannone Petricone Associates
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca

😖
 
Now, that's a funky entrance and in a good way...where the one side of it turns into a public bench. We need more places like this! <3
 
HousingNowTO said:
Can anyone confirm the Unit-Mix -- and the "average unit size" for each Unit-Type..?

This was at apparently at Committee of Adjustment on SEPT. 18th -- and there were only Two (2) local NIMBY letters against it (from the same person) -- but I assumed that it was approved at CoA.
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Yes it was approved without condition at CoA.

As for the unit mix:
There will be 42 units, including 22 studio units, 12 accessible studio units, six one bedroom units, and two accessible one bedroom units
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I think today's PRESS RELEASE is the first-time that the Land-Cost that the City had to pay the Province in 2019 was made public -

"The property at 11 Brock Ave. was previously owned by the Province of Ontario and was acquired by the City in 2019 for $3.25-MILLION for the purpose of supportive and affordable housing.

In 2023, the project received federal capital grant funding of $21,621,509 through phase 3 of the Rapid Housing Initiative.

The City will also contribute capital funding and has approved more than $3.4 million in pre-development funding and financial incentives to the project, including waived fees and property taxes.

Beginning in 2025, annual operating funding of at least $1.2 million is required from the Province of Ontario for the support services planned for this building. The City has requested the Province renew its current annual investment of $48 million for another three years to ensure the ongoing stability of support services in more than 3,000 existing supportive homes in Toronto.

In addition, the City requires provincial investment of $12 million annually beginning in 2025 for new supportive housing projects expected to complete construction in 2025 and 2026."

LINK - https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-of...l-affordable-housing-project-at-11-brock-ave/
 
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