Eastside
Active Member
Here's an email from Adam Vaughan regarding this project. It was posted by Gary Pieters on the Cityplace facebook page (hopefully he doesn't mind my reposting of it here). Judging by this email, it would appear that some of the building is, in fact, going to be market-rate:
Message from Councillor Adam Vaughan - Ward 20 - Trinity Spadina
Dear Residents of CityPlace,
An e-mail has been circulated to area residents urging people to oppose two development proposals in the neighbourhood. Please see the attached area map (in the PDF version of this letter) for the precise location.
The two proposals (on three blocks) are similar to the podium and tower block design typical of the architecture in the CityPlace neighbourhood. Like all the buildings in the community, the blocks were laid out and given heights and density as part of the original Rail Lands precinct plan.
This plan was agreed to in the early ‘80s and finalized in the mid ‘90s. At that time, the developer agreed to construct and then turn over to the city the public infrastructure required to service the neighbourhood.
City Council signed an agreement with the private developer that contractually mandated Concord Adex to construct everything from roads, sewer service, new parks, two schools and a community centre. The city and the developer also agreed to a land swap at the time to provide development sites for public housing, transit and a library. The city is bound by this contract to build housing on the site, and for the bulk of the housing to be affordable. The developer proposed the covenant, in part to cut off competition for their market housing. The developer also did not want to subsidize and pay to service new private condominium projects that might provide competition for the product they were trying to get to market.
The areas targeted for affordable housing have always been projected for the western precinct of the development site and as such are among the last parts of the community to be built. These projects have always been identified as part of the community even though they are only now getting built.
Originally proposed as 100% rental public housing, the project has had to be been modified as federal and provincial governments have only recently started to fund public housing again. As a result of the new fiscal environment the City is now proposing a mixed-model project that includes some market housing in order to finance affordable rental units, while at the same time affordable home ownership programs will also help pay for the project and make the dream of owning a home possible by people who work in the downtown but can’t afford to buy family housing in particular in the inner city. Some of the apartments in the new building will be rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units, but certainly not most let alone all will be. For a comparable neighbourhood, visit Crombie Village south and east of St. Lawrence Market.
To characterize the project as “low-income†is misleading. The community is being designed as affordable. The distinction is important. Mixed communities thrive, monolithic projects where every one’s rent is subsidized can create stress and pressure that is as bad for the residents who live in these types of communities as it is for the neighbours.
To call the neighbourhood a ghetto, as one e-mail being circulated does, is offensive. It’s offensive and absolutely incorrect.
As with virtually every project in CityPlace, some zoning changes and minor variances will be needed as the design of the projects move forward. The new buildings will be presented to the community shortly, some of the very same architects who have built in the area west of Spadina will be working on the city-owned sites to make sure the design and creative integrity that defines the community is sustained as the neighbourhood is completed.
As with all development applications in Ward 20 every member of the community is invited to be part of the application review. Constructive criticism is welcome – and in fact needed – to make sure these buildings are the best they can possibly be. Public meetings have been held regularly. The last one was hosted by my office on April 30, 2008 at the Harbourfront Community Centre, where about 50 residents were in attendance, including residents of CityPlace, to hear about the plans for the emerging neighbourhood from representatives of Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Concord Adex, the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
The next meeting is:
Date: Tuesday October 14, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Metro Hall, 55 John Street (at King St W), Room 302
This meeting is being organized by the City of Toronto Planning Division, and will provide residents with the opportunity to hear the plans for this development site and provide feedback. The scale, design and function of the buildings is up for debate. The economic status of the new residents is not. That decision was made before any buildings in CityPlace were ever built.
I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming community meetings. If you have any further questions please contact my office at Councillor_Vaughan@toronto.ca or 416-392-4044, or the area city planner, Sarah Phipps, at sphipps1@toronto.ca or 416-392-7622.
Regards,
Adam Vaughan
City Councillor
Ward 20, Trinity Spadina
Message from Councillor Adam Vaughan - Ward 20 - Trinity Spadina
Dear Residents of CityPlace,
An e-mail has been circulated to area residents urging people to oppose two development proposals in the neighbourhood. Please see the attached area map (in the PDF version of this letter) for the precise location.
The two proposals (on three blocks) are similar to the podium and tower block design typical of the architecture in the CityPlace neighbourhood. Like all the buildings in the community, the blocks were laid out and given heights and density as part of the original Rail Lands precinct plan.
This plan was agreed to in the early ‘80s and finalized in the mid ‘90s. At that time, the developer agreed to construct and then turn over to the city the public infrastructure required to service the neighbourhood.
City Council signed an agreement with the private developer that contractually mandated Concord Adex to construct everything from roads, sewer service, new parks, two schools and a community centre. The city and the developer also agreed to a land swap at the time to provide development sites for public housing, transit and a library. The city is bound by this contract to build housing on the site, and for the bulk of the housing to be affordable. The developer proposed the covenant, in part to cut off competition for their market housing. The developer also did not want to subsidize and pay to service new private condominium projects that might provide competition for the product they were trying to get to market.
The areas targeted for affordable housing have always been projected for the western precinct of the development site and as such are among the last parts of the community to be built. These projects have always been identified as part of the community even though they are only now getting built.
Originally proposed as 100% rental public housing, the project has had to be been modified as federal and provincial governments have only recently started to fund public housing again. As a result of the new fiscal environment the City is now proposing a mixed-model project that includes some market housing in order to finance affordable rental units, while at the same time affordable home ownership programs will also help pay for the project and make the dream of owning a home possible by people who work in the downtown but can’t afford to buy family housing in particular in the inner city. Some of the apartments in the new building will be rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units, but certainly not most let alone all will be. For a comparable neighbourhood, visit Crombie Village south and east of St. Lawrence Market.
To characterize the project as “low-income†is misleading. The community is being designed as affordable. The distinction is important. Mixed communities thrive, monolithic projects where every one’s rent is subsidized can create stress and pressure that is as bad for the residents who live in these types of communities as it is for the neighbours.
To call the neighbourhood a ghetto, as one e-mail being circulated does, is offensive. It’s offensive and absolutely incorrect.
As with virtually every project in CityPlace, some zoning changes and minor variances will be needed as the design of the projects move forward. The new buildings will be presented to the community shortly, some of the very same architects who have built in the area west of Spadina will be working on the city-owned sites to make sure the design and creative integrity that defines the community is sustained as the neighbourhood is completed.
As with all development applications in Ward 20 every member of the community is invited to be part of the application review. Constructive criticism is welcome – and in fact needed – to make sure these buildings are the best they can possibly be. Public meetings have been held regularly. The last one was hosted by my office on April 30, 2008 at the Harbourfront Community Centre, where about 50 residents were in attendance, including residents of CityPlace, to hear about the plans for the emerging neighbourhood from representatives of Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Concord Adex, the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
The next meeting is:
Date: Tuesday October 14, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Metro Hall, 55 John Street (at King St W), Room 302
This meeting is being organized by the City of Toronto Planning Division, and will provide residents with the opportunity to hear the plans for this development site and provide feedback. The scale, design and function of the buildings is up for debate. The economic status of the new residents is not. That decision was made before any buildings in CityPlace were ever built.
I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming community meetings. If you have any further questions please contact my office at Councillor_Vaughan@toronto.ca or 416-392-4044, or the area city planner, Sarah Phipps, at sphipps1@toronto.ca or 416-392-7622.
Regards,
Adam Vaughan
City Councillor
Ward 20, Trinity Spadina
