Toronto 50 Wilson Heights Blvd | 55.47m | 16s | Greenwin | Kirkor Architects

Northern Light said:
Update on this one to next week's CreateTO meeting:


There have been changes to the 'terms' to reflect the economic headwinds on the project, but those are as yet confidential.

What has not changed is the number of affordable housing units.

The new report suggests a construction start of Q1 2024:

View attachment 462629
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Approved by CreateTOs Board. BUT....

Still needs financing from CMHC.

My view, CMHC should be providing a pre-approved envelope to the Housing Now Program that covers multiple sites, and they just file through and claim their financing. This hold-up is ridiculous.

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^^^^ From the April CreateTO Agenda: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2023/ra/bgrd/backgroundfile-235720.pdf
 
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Northern Light said:
Approved by CreateTOs Board. BUT....

Still needs financing from CMHC.

My view, CMHC should providing a pre-approved envelope to the Housing Now Program that covers multiple sites, and they just file through and claim their financing. This hold-up is ridiculous.

View attachment 469994

^^^^ From the April CreateTO Agenda: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2023/ra/bgrd/backgroundfile-235720.pdf
Click to expand...
Yeah, CMHC stuff is crazy-making...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1648061729807699968
 
A great, if depressing article looks at the miserable failure that the City's Housing Now program has become.

www.thestar.com

Housing, eventually: Why Toronto’s rapid homebuilding program has yet to build a single home

Housing Now was supposed to deliver thousands of units quickly, but four years later it has stalled on a shaky economy, infrastructure issues and bureaucracy.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

There's plenty of issues; and some vary by site.........

But I would single out financing as the single large culprit for delays across every project; it remains baffling to me how people with 3-digit IQs could not discern at the very beginning of the process that the projects would all
require financing, and that that item had to be of the highest priority and in place, before a single RFP went out the door.

Beyond that, some of the site specific issues at this site (50 Wilson Heights) are explored in greater detail.

Notably, two items:

1) The TTC was less than cooperative about relocated a bus driveway

2) It turns out there is insufficient sewer capacity in the area, and apparently no one thought about this before proposing the site, nor directed Toronto Water to make addressing this issue a high priority, early on.

While I'm more than sympathetic to legitimate consultation, it seems to me the TTC could and should have been directed to come up with a cooperative answer within 30 days. They have the requisite staff, it's rather clear they didn't
wish to prioritize this.

Equally clear is that various other departments dragged their feet as well. I would disagree with Mark, in the article about the value of the traffic studies, I think they are/were needed, but on an expedited basis. Time is indeed money, and these studies can be done well, and quickly, if staff and/or third parties are properly motivated.
 
Northern Light said:
A great, if depressing article looks at the miserable failure that the City's Housing Now program has become.

Equally clear is that various other departments dragged their feet as well. I would disagree with Mark, in the article about the value of the traffic studies, I think they are/were needed, but on an expedited basis. Time is indeed money, and these studies can be done well, and quickly, if staff and/or third parties are properly motivated.
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The quote “Those transportation reports aren’t free --- Time is money, time is units, time is risk.” was given in the context of the local Councillor's push-back on reducing the $5/Day commuter parking. That context didn't really come out in the STAR article...
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HousingNowTO said:
The quote “Those transportation reports aren’t free --- Time is money, time is units, time is risk.” was given in the context of the local Councillor's push-back on reducing the $5/Day commuter parking. That context didn't really come out in the STAR article...View attachment 482887

View attachment 482879
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The Star's lack of context is unfortunate there, as I would agree w/you that no traffic study was required for the commuter parking lot issue. Obviously there would be an impact as those lot users either:

a) Changed mode
b) Parked at a different commuter lot
c) Chose to drive to their destination.

But those impacts would not be felt locally, and as such that development need not be delayed/burdened by such a study.
 
Northern Light said:
The Star's lack of context is unfortunate there, as I would agree w/you that no traffic study was required for the commuter parking lot issue. Obviously there would be an impact as those lot users either:

a) Changed mode
b) Parked at a different commuter lot
c) Chose to drive to their destination.

But those impacts would not be felt locally, and as such that development need not be delayed/burdened by such a study.
Click to expand...
To be honest, the STAR feeder-papers (Metroland Media) were "part of the problem" on the commuter parking-lot problems in mid-2019... by giving the NIMPL (Not In My Parking Lot) folks sympathetic front-page coverage...

1685971516090.png
 
Northern Light said:
The Star's lack of context is unfortunate there, as I would agree w/you that no traffic study was required for the commuter parking lot issue. Obviously there would be an impact as those lot users either:

a) Changed mode
b) Parked at a different commuter lot
c) Chose to drive to their destination.

But those impacts would not be felt locally, and as such that development need not be delayed/burdened by such a study.
Click to expand...
People pretty much demanded it in this ward, "more traffic" and "where will I park after I drop off my kids" were the rally cry of the idiots in this area.
Unfortunately for them, the studies showed that most of the people using this lot were from outside the neighbourhood.

As for the sewers, I feel like they've tore up Wilson, from Bathurst to Wilson Heights, to do sewer work at least twice since I've lived here.
 
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