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Unveiled yesterday, a transformative housing project at 2444 Eglinton Avenue East in Scarborough promises to invigorate the area around Kennedy subway and GO station with the introduction of three striking towers. A substantial addition of affordable housing to the area, they are positioned across Eglinton Avenue from the transit hub. Spearheaded by CreateTO, the City's development arm for land it owns, Windmill Development Group Ltd and Civic Developments have selected as partners to develop the project. The affordable housing component will be operated by the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto.
2444 Eglinton East will be one of Ontario’s largest affordable housing projects over the past quarter-century. The site currently serves as a commuter parking lot for the transit hub to the south, to be replaced with three towers, with two providing co-op rental housing and one providing market-rate ownership units.
The design, led by Henriquez Partners Architects, comprises three buildings of 22, 30, and 40 storeys, accommodating 918 units. Of these, 612 units – two-thirds of the total – are allocated for rent-geared-to-income (RGI), affordable, and market-rate rental co-op housing, set between 40 and 100 percent of the average market rent. This inclusive approach caters to a diverse range of income levels. At least 33 percent of the affordable homes and 15 percent of the market rental homes will be accessible units. The design team includes the late Claude Cormier’s firm CCxA on landscape design.
The proposal extends beyond housing, offering approximately 333m² of community space and 1,186m² of retail space. These additions would enhance the Kennedy Mobility Hub, aligning with the City of Toronto's Housing Now Initiative. Part of the City’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan, it focuses on developing transit-oriented, affordable housing on City-owned land.
As part of Toronto's Housing Now Initiative, the project aims to contribute to the City's goal of building 65,000 new rent-controlled homes over the next decade. The City of Toronto has committed roughly $2 billion in land value, funding, and financial incentives to support this target. Housing Now leverages City-owned land to develop housing solutions that are affordable, transit-oriented, and cater to a wide spectrum of income levels.
The project also adheres to the One Planet Living principles utilized by Windmill Developments, which focus on social, environmental, and economic sustainability. The development aims to exceed the Toronto Green Standard Version 4, Tier 2, for environmental performance.
It will receive contributions from the One Planet Living Real Estate Fund, a collaborative effort between Epic Investment Services and Windmill which strives for impactful, sustainable development with the pursuit of market returns. As a closed-end, mixed-use opportunistic real estate development impact fund, it is designed to catalyze a broader shift towards environmentally responsible and community-focused real estate development.
Construction on 2444 Eglinton Avenue East is anticipated to begin sometime between 2024 and 2026. The next phase of the process entails a Zoning By-law Amendment and planning approvals to settle on the final design concept.
Mayor Olivia Chow expressed her satisfaction with the project's progress, noting, "This will be the largest co-operative housing development in Ontario to date and will serve as a roadmap for future developments." Vic Gupta, CEO of CreateTO, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the project's importance in helping the City achieve its housing goals and setting a precedent for future co-operative and affordable housing projects in Ontario.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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