I've been meaning to post something..........this thread seems as apt as any.
**** The following post/comments is about the HousingNow program in its entirety, just as the question is above.
@HousingNowTO may wish to join the commentary.
I spoke with a few members of Council and staff in the last week on a number of subjects.
One of them was the moribund state of this program.
I asked about the never arriving CMHC loans...........
I'm not going to reveal certain details; but I will reveal the gist.
IF CMHC came through tomorrow at the asked for rates; virtually none of the sites, as zoned, are currently deemed viable. The escalation of construction costs (both labour and materials) has made the financial models either outright unworkable or too highly risked.
Note :I'm not speaking about any one site here, and there may be the odd exception........but overall internal feeling in the City is that almost every single project is going to have to come back in to the planning process and before Council in order to add more density.
In some cases, this may be moderately straight-forward, but even then we're talking about (very charitably) many months more of delays.
If, in some cases, the additional density requires modifying proposals beyond merely adding floors, but changing road layouts and various other neighbourhood plans, the delays could be considerably longer.
Long and short of it, there is little hope of many, or perhaps any of the projects breaking ground this year.
To say I'm disappointed is to understate things rather considerably. But my preferred choice of words would contravene forum etiquette.