The exciting new stairs at the base of this building are now complete:


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streetsoftoronto.com

Why it's important we build affordable housing in T.O.'s least affordable neighbourhood

Toronto is considering turning one of its properties in the Rosedale area into a residential building that includes affordable housing
streetsoftoronto.com streetsoftoronto.com

The site at 931 Yonge St., at the corner of Yonge and Rosedale Valley Road, is currently the home of Toronto Community Housing (TCHC), but it has been identified as one of eight properties to be “modernized” as part of the city’s ModernTO program. While the purpose of the program wasn’t initially to create affordable housing, local councillor Mike Layton told Post City that it has adopted that focus, with the Yonge location particularly found to be a good fit for such a use.

“It’s a pretty easy site to develop,” he said. “It’s currently not the highest and best use of the site.”

Layton pointed out that the site is close to the Rosedale subway station and a public park, which also makes it appealing for housing.

ModernTO calls for at least 33 per cent of the housing in its portfolio to be affordable. At 931 Yonge St., the rest of the units would be market price, which would help pay for the project, Layton said. TCHC will likely have to find a new headquarters.

CreateTO will now begin a rezoning process to figure out what can be built on the site, with the aim to go to market in 2023 to find a developer to create the new building. Layton said the city is currently envisioning a high-rise development on the shorter end of the height range.

“We’re in a housing crisis in our city and we need to create as much affordable housing as we can and use every lever that the city has to do it,” Layton said.

Greater Yorkville Residents’ Association (GYRA) board member Paul Bedford said there hasn’t been any community consultation yet and without concrete plans of what the building may look like, it is too early to comment on the idea.

However, Neil Travis, a nearby resident and board member of the Davenport Triangle Association (DATRA), said the site makes sense given the proximity to public transit — whether it can handle extra riders, though, is a concern.

When asked how lower-income residents might adapt to living in the ritzier area, Travis said the transit and the bike lane on Yonge St. could help them find more affordable amenities if needed.
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CreateTO images from tonight's virtual meeting...

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NOTE : Assume "No New Shadow on a Park" policy is going to be a problem here.
 
CreateTO "early stage" vision --- no real numbers or details...

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Many questions about the details of ALL of this... but few answers.
 
Undetermined Future-Dates...

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HousingNowTO said:
@Northern Light - What was the Source of that CONCEPT image..?

Only looks like 17 or 18 Storeys --- but I have never seen it anywhere but here. thx!

NOTE : It is waaaaaay too short to be financially-viable as Affordable Housing on that site
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So......good question.

I did, of course, leave a report link to the March 7 meeting of CreateTO; and there was a presentation at that meeting as well........

But I clicked through my own link, and that report.......and couldn't find the image.

***

I went and looked at other properties in that report, for which I posted similar concept images....


They were definitely in the presentation to CreateTO originally and have since been scrubbed!
 
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ZBA for this one has been filed:

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Development Applications

City Planning COA Application Information Center
app.toronto.ca

For the title:

Height 21s

Architect: Zeidler

From the Docs:

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Given the proximity to multiple parks, shadowing has been raised as an issue. The Shadowing Study shows thus:

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Landscape Plan is rather disappointing:

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No trees/landscape buffer between the sidewalk and the road contemplated on either the Yonge or Alymer (Rosedale Valley Road) frontages. There seems to be ample space available in the plans if you shift 'private' (City owned) space to the curbside.
 
Height = 21 Storeys
Total Units = 165 Units
"Affordable Ownership" Units = 55 Units

Need more details on how this "Affordable Ownership" model would work - and why not "Affordable Rental"..?

Our volunteers will also render some alternative of this design at greater heights to define the alternative Unit-Counts and Shadow-Impacts, etc.
 
It is bizarre that the city is limiting its ambition for this site to avoid shadows on a park that literally nobody has every set foot in, other than a handful of dogwalkers.
 
evandyk said:
It is bizarre that the city is limiting its ambition for this site to avoid shadows on a park that literally nobody has every set foot in, other than a handful of dogwalkers.
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Which of the three potentially affected parks are you discussing? Budd Sugarman (Yonge, east side), Ramsden Park (Yonge, West side), Severn Creek (Alymer/Rosedale Valley).

Ramsden is certainly busy; the other two, less so, though both could be activated to greater degrees.

*****

That said, if I look at the City opportunities here, my priority would not be 931, not that we ought not to do something with it, but I see it as the lesser potential site.

The far greater potential lies in building over Rosedale Station, including the bus loop and the tracks.

It's a larger footprint, and largely located north and east of the parkland, neatly avoiding most of the shadowing issue.

* For the record, I'm old enough to remember the TTC actually trying to get such a development done years ago, at 9s mind you, and the blowback from the Rosedale set killed it.

But that was also a very long time ago, in a very different Toronto.
 
HousingNowTO said:
Height = 21 Storeys
Total Units = 165 Units
"Affordable Ownership" Units = 55 Units

Need more details on how this "Affordable Ownership" model would work - and why not "Affordable Rental"..?

Our volunteers will also render some alternative of this design at greater heights to define the alternative Unit-Counts and Shadow-Impacts, etc.
Click to expand...
I was wondering about that too. When the owner needs to move, do they sell at market rates and gain all the upside? At that point, the unit would no longer be affordable.
 
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