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Mayor John Tory announced this morning that a Toronto Parking Authority parking lot located at 1117 Dundas Street West near the intersection with Ossington Avenue, will be the operating site of a new pilot program that will bring 100 new affordable rental homes to the city.
This project will be the first of its kind in Toronto and will take a new climate conscious approach towards delivering affordable housing using mass timber and other low-carbon building materials. Tory, joined by Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão and City Councillor Joe Cressy, announced that the development is being designed to the highest tier of Toronto Green Standard Version 4. To reach this tier this development will see no on-site fossil fuel use, maximize on-site renewable electricity, and use mass timber and other low-carbon materials as much as possible. As a result, this building will be near net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
“The pilot program announced today will demonstrate not only the commitment we have to becoming a greener city but that this approach can help build cost-effective affordable housing," said Tory. "Using innovative and modern ideas like mass timber construction will help us deliver high quality designs and buildings that will contribute to our goal of net zero emissions by 2040."
The City is hoping that through this pilot program, a new, scalable, affordable, and market housing solution will be developed that can be replicated on other City-owned sites across Toronto.
“Pending the outcomes of the pilot program," said Bailão, "Toronto could have a new cost-effective building option to increase the supply of affordable housing, while also achieving a lower carbon footprint than traditional steel and concrete construction. Making the model replicable will also help speed up the design, development, and construction processes, and ultimately expedite the delivery of much-needed housing across the city.”
The anticipated benefits of using mass timber to residential/mixed-use development include: faster construction timelines, reduced cost due to efficiencies, reduced greenhouse gas and material emissions from the housing, transportation, and construction sectors, and improved quality of life for future residents, all while optimizing the density of affordable housing on targeted City-owned properties.
“The proposal to turn a City-owned parking lot at 1117 Dundas Street West into a new form of sustainable, mid-rise affordable housing is exactly the type of project Toronto needs right now," said Cressy. "We must take advantage of every opportunity to build new sustainable and affordable housing, and that includes unlocking the potential of municipally-owned properties."
Mass timber construction presents an opportunity to rapidly scale up the supply of affordable housing in Toronto. The pilot program will focus primarily on mid-rise development but can also include analyzing both missing middle housing types such as laneway houses, duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes, townhouses, and low-rise apartment buildings, and tall building development through a mass timber form.
"Once the pilot project is up and running," said Tory, "the results could lead to a new development model which would add a new way for us to address the affordable housing challenges in our city. This is good news for our city and a clear demonstration of the work we are doing to advance new ideas and implement solutions to pressing issues faced by our city.”
Staff will report back to Planning and Housing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2023 on the results of the pilot program, and, if successful, on a full set of recommendations to establish a new permanent Mass Timber Affordable Housing Program.
More information on the development will likely come with a Zoning By-law Amendment submission soon, but in the meantime, you can join in on the conversation in our dedicated Buildings Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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