Toronto CityPlace: Canoe Landing Community Centre & Schools | 15.85m | 3s | City of Toronto | ZAS Architects

[neubilder]

This project should have been the first of both TCHC projects to break ground at the CityPlace location...block-33 went ahead two years ago and this one, went on shaky ground.
So two years later, what has this project cancelation have to do with Rob Ford...Chill

Don't tell me to chill and don't smile at me.

 

[Torontovibe]

You're kidding me!? Ford didn't stop the King East TCHC did he? This has got to stop. We need to find a way to recall these monsters.

It's been sitting there, an empty pit, with no workers for a few months, so it looks like it's cancelled. I haven't heard anything officially.

 

[Automation Gallery]

It's been sitting there, an empty pit, with no workers for a few months, so it looks like it's cancelled. I haven't heard anything officially.

Its to bad..i liked the design, i liked the mix. Sad

TCHC scraps housing project

The city’s housing company has given up plans to build a 322-unit affordable housing building in the Railways Lands condominium development west of the Rogers Centre.

The large 1.2-hectare (3-acre) site sits beside Canoe Landing Park, the park with the big red canoe that serves residents of nearby condo towers built by developer Concord Adex.

It was to be home to a 43-storey affordable housing building, but — citing a lack of funding — the Toronto Community Housing Corp. has turned back the site to the city, and the city is now pondering what to do.

A member of council’s affordable housing committee said he fears Mayor Rob Ford’s administration wants to sell the site to shore up the city’s finances.

Councillor Joe Mihevc’s first reaction was negative. “They want to monetize it; you can smell that a mile away,†he said. But later in the day, after researching the issue, he concluded the project would cost $40 million and eat up almost half of the $108 million recently allocated for affordable housing in Toronto by the province and the federal government.

Local Councillor Adam Vaughan would prefer to see funds from any land sale allocated to build affordable housing elsewhere in his ward.

Two schools, a community centre and daycare are also to be built on the site, now a hole in the ground, and construction must begin to utilize $38.5 million already raised from development charges to build the facilities, Vaughan said.

“We don’t have sufficient provincial or federal funding to build public housing on site. We’re going to sell to a private developer,†he said. “I would rather put the money from that back into public housing somewhere else, but my guess is they’ll use it to balance the budget.â€

The school boards are impatient, said Sean Gadon, director of the city’s affordable housing office. “They would like to see it get going,†Gadon said. “There’s some urgency because the funds have been collected for these purposes and a new community is building up around it.â€

The city is seeking a partner to build the entire development, but it’s unclear what proportion of the units, if any, would be affordable.

City real estate director Joe Casali said the land may be sold if a market condominium ends up as the housing type. Another possibility is a system of mixed ownership involving the city, school boards and a private developer.

“There may be components that the city retains ownership of, there may be components that the city does not retain ownership of,†Casali said.

Casali said he will be speaking about the site with Build Toronto, the city agency set up to maximize returns from city-owned real estate.

The mayor’s office didn’t respond to the Star’s request for comment.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1059971--tchc-scraps-housing-project

 

[hawc]

This is pretty big news for me. I live right beside it at 15 Fort York.

I have a couple of friends with young kids who (rightly or wrongly) moved out of the building because they didn't want to live next to 43 stories of community housing (it was originally suppose to be 12).

I wonder what's going to go in there now?

 

[Automation Gallery]

This is pretty big news for me. I live right beside it at 15 Fort York.

I have a couple of friends with young kids who (rightly or wrongly) moved out of the building because they didn't want to live next to 43 stories of community housing

Gee, just cant believe how people can be so paranoid to live beside lower income individuals...good luck on wherever they have moved to.

I wonder what's going to go in there now?

Well the schools, daycare, and community centre for sure...and seeing that the previous plan was for 43 storeys, something most likely around the same height thrown in the mix.

 

[Northern Magus]

I wonder if it's possible to add another 20s and sell the land and the design to a private builder with the stipulation that 25% of all units are to go to TCHC?

 

[Tuscani01]

This is pretty big news for me. I live right beside it at 15 Fort York.

I have a couple of friends with young kids who (rightly or wrongly) moved out of the building because they didn't want to live next to 43 stories of community housing (it was originally suppose to be 12).

I wonder what's going to go in there now?

It was never going to be 43 stories of community housing. Anyone who believed that to be the case was misinformed. It was to be mixed income housing, with only some of the 43 stories going to TCHC. No one would have noticed that it was a TCHC property, but you had a small group of people within Cityplace going around preaching that it would be the end of the world if the development were built. People like 'Howard the condo man' made it their goal to fight this project, and scare all residents and potential purchasers.

TCHC will do nothing but improve property value here in Cityplace, as it will bring more long term renters, and way more families than any private development,.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I can't help but ask if those said folks will be happy if TCHC built a 12s as of right, fully RGI building on the site. The whole 43s thing is used as a red herring I suspect.

AoD

 

[wang888]

the economic times have changed. our youth today are jobless and have no bright future even if they finish post secondary, nothing is keeping these kids busy and so they will turn to the life of crime because they have to...

 

[Tuscani01]

I can't help but ask if those said folks will be happy if TCHC built a 12s as of right, fully RGI building on the site. The whole 43s thing is used as a red herring I suspect.

AoD

Hey Alvin,

It was a small minority that was against this project simply because TCHC was attached to it. The majority of the opposition had to do with the height of the tower, as it would have blocked views, as well as cast a shadow over the Luna sun deck/outdoor pool. 12 stories would have pleased many people, but unfortunately would not have been affordable for TCHC to build.

Proof that TCHC wasn't what angered residents: Block 32 went ahead with no issues or complaints.

 

[Automation Gallery]

the economic times have changed. our youth today are jobless and have no bright future even if they finish post secondary, nothing is keeping these kids busy and so they will turn to the life of crime because they have to...

Right, thats why were right up there as one of the worst economies, and crime-ridden countries on the planet.

 

[RedRaptor]

Proof that TCHC wasn't what angered residents: Block 32 went ahead with no issues or complaints.

As a resident of Luna, I agree with this. TCHC wasn't the issue as you can't expect to live downtown Toronto without a mix of different classes and incomes.

My problem was/still is with the 43 story building. A 12 to 15 story building would be just perfect to go along with the schools and community centre.

Or they could scrap the whole building and put in a nice public pool.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Tuscani/RedRaptor:

Thanks for the candor. As a sobering thought - this change in event might not be in anyone's favour, considering the current goal of the city is to maximize value in public lands.

AoD

 

[SP!RE]

the economic times have changed. our youth today are jobless and have no bright future even if they finish post secondary, nothing is keeping these kids busy and so they will turn to the life of crime because they have to...

Oh I'm sorry, are you a sociologist?

 

[Tuscani01]

Tuscani/RedRaptor:

Thanks for the candor. As a sobering thought - this change in event might not be in anyone's favour, considering the current goal of the city is to maximize value in public lands.

AoD

Yea, its something we are monitoring closely. Hopefully we can work with the developer to minimize the impact. (As long as its not Concord, because Concord is nearly impossible to reason with)