Real work will be to fill the buildings
Selling condos tricky in 'mixed neighbourhood'
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
National Post
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
So ? do you want to buy a condo in Regent Park? Yesterday, Daniels Corporation, the developer, gathered about 150 guests, including Mayor David Miller, in a big white tent, complete with ceiling fans, on a five-hectare lot near the corner of Dundas and Parliament streets.
Until two years ago, 1,200 people lived in 418 apartments on this site, owned by the Toronto Community Housing Corp.
TCHC relocated its tenants and demolished the 50-year-old brick apartments last year, to make way for a "mixed-income" community that would take away the stigma of living in a social housing ghetto.
Daniels launched its portion of the redevelopment yesterday, saying it will put up two buildings along Parliament Street, one nine storeys and the other 19 storeys, with suites ranging from 497 to 1,238 square feet. Prices start at $189,000; occupancy begins in spring of 2009.
On the plus side: Downtown is 10 minutes' walk away. The city is building a new aquatic centre on Sumach Street nearby.
Daniels says its new condos will have an Energy Star rating, use green building practices, and have a green roof. Sobeys, the Royal Bank and Tim Hortons have signed up as tenants on the ground floor. Condo owners also get a fitness centre, cafe and 24-hour concierge.
On the minus side: As I left the presentation and crossed Parliament along with hundreds of Regent Park kids who were returning to Lord Dufferin Public School from their lunch breaks, a man in a First Nations baseball cap warned, "My kids will still beat up your kids."
This, of course, is the challenge of a mixed neighbourhood. Still, many in Toronto live amid a mix of incomes, as Mr. Miller, who lives in a house in High Park, pointed out to reporters after digging the requisite first shovel of dirt at the site yesterday.
"In my neighbourhood there is a Toronto Community Housing building across the street from me," he said. "That's what a neighbourhood should be."
As Dr. Mitchell Kosney, chairman of the board of TCHC, said at the presentation, "This is about building healthy, safe communities where people can live, work and play."
Derek Ballantyne, the TCHC chief executive, argued yesterday that it made more sense to tear down.
"These were built in 1950," he said. "The design of the buildings was very difficult to feel safe in. Almost all were walk-ups, and they had significant plumbing issues."
Still, this is an expensive venture for the housing authority. Mr. Ballantyne acknowledged that the cash-strapped TCHC, which has a $300-million backlog for repairs across Toronto, is spending $40-million right now to put up a 275-unit apartment building here.
About 60% of the apartments will be rent-geared-to-income.
TCHC will get only a little more than $10-million from Daniels toward its costs.
This five-hectare site, once fully built, will contain 340 apartments and 590 market condominiums.
Speakers at the event, including George Smitherman, the provincial Health Minister and local MPP, raved about the community involvement in this project, but there were signs the locals are getting a bit cynical.
Mo f a z z a l Howladar, who has lived 12 years in Regent Park and is the tenant representative, crashed the event, and told me, "It was not good that we were not invited."
(Daniels, Mr. Howladar said, planned a separate barbecue in the tent for the community yesterday evening.)
Mr. Howladar is a strong booster of this redevelopment, noting that, "These buildings will be a thousand times better than the ones torn down."
But he added, "There are lots of rumours in the community that the TCHC and Daniels are not going to keep their promise. They believe that once you move out, they will not be able to come back."
Selling condos in Regent Park is a tricky job. You have to make the area attractive for the new arrivals without alienating the existing community. If the locals get upset, they could (a) resist further transformation of the area and (b) beat up the new kids.
TCHC and Daniels have lots of work ahead.
'...a man in a First Nations baseball cap warned, "My kids will still beat up your kids."'
Nice