MP Adam Vaughan has announced that the Federal Government is funding the construction of 761 rental housing units on Block 8 of the West Don Lands. It is located just to the east of the popular entertainment, shopping and eating area called The Distillery District and south of the Canary District which began as the atheletes village during the 2015 Pan-Am Games and is now a residential district according to Urban Toronto.
The Federal government, through the Canada Mortgage and housing Corporation, is investing $357 million for the construction of three towers. The towers will consist of a total of 761 units of which 229 will be affordable units and 532 will be market value units. The site is on provincially owned land valued at $117 million that the Province is providing for building the affordable housing in downtown Toronto.
"Through the National Housing Strategy, more middle-class Canadians and those working hard to join the middle class, will find safe, accessible and affordable homes in communities where their families can thrive and children learn and grow. This investment is wonderful news for the Toronto middle-income families that will move into these new rental housing units. Our Government is committed to increasing the supply of rental units for Canadians through projects like the one we are announcing today."
Member of Parliament | MP Adam Vaughan
The developers of the site are Dream Unlimited Corp., Dream Hard Asset Alternatives Trust, Kilmer Van Nostrand Co., Limited and Tricon Capital Group Inc.
The designers for these buildings are COBE Architects of Copenhagen and architectsAlliance of Toronto. The buildings of Block 8 will range in height from 16 to 26 storeys. The landscape designer is Claude Cormier + Associes of Montreal.
The Plans include the following:
- 229 affordable units with rents ranging from average market rent for the City to Toronto to 40% of average market rent throughout all bedroom types
- The three bedroom and four bedroom units will account for 45 of the 229 affordable units.
- All 229 affordable units will be dispersed throughout the three buildings
- The project is designed to achieve a reduction of 17.6% in annual energy use and 19.1% in annual greenhouse gas emissions
- 30% of the units will be either fully accessible or adaptable
Launched in April 2017, the RCFi, a National Housing Strategy initiative, has generated a lot of quality applications. This is why, through Budget 2018, the Government increased the amount for low-cost loans provided by this initiative from $2.5 billion to $3.75 billion and further increased to $13.75 billion with budget 2019. In total, the RCFi will encourage the construction of 42,500 new rental housing units across Canada.
Low cost loans are available to borrowers who want to build affordable rental housing in Canada. The average rental market vacancy rate in downtown Toronto is at 1.1%.
DataBid is currently reporting on this project - West Don Lands Block 8 Mixed-Use Residential Towers - Toronto (0063102717)
