Toronto Kennedy Co-Ops | 142.55m | 41s | CreateTO | Henriquez Partners

[Northern Light]

Site announced for phase 2 of Housing Now.

City owned, commercial property on north service road, adjacent to TTC staff/commuter parking.

Image Credit: https://www.toronto.ca/business-eco...operties-for-lease/2444-eglinton-avenue-east/

 

[Toronto1834]

That's a pretty small site, I wonder if it will also include the adjacent parking lot.

 

[Northern Light]

That's a pretty small site, I wonder if it will also include the adjacent parking lot.

The site as listed is 43,000 sq feet or roughly 1 acre. (see City image credit)

Curiously, the entire building lot as I measure it (excluding the TTC lot) is well shy of that.

But the TTC lot is too big, to fit in the original site listing, its 56,000ft2

All together, taken as one, its a 2acre site, give or take.

 

[Northern Light]

More info now online from the City:

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-147529.pdf

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Funny site, tucked between the Scarborough RT, the GO rail tracks, and the constant construction of Kennedy Station, I can't imagine anyone wanting to purchase a unit here.

At the same time, it is too valuable and close to a rapid transit not to not develop as it can provide important residential stock.

I anticipate that the rental and affordable rental component here will be substantial, and that is a good thing.

 

[AlbertC]

Possible land use concepts and vision by Smart Density:

Transit-Oriented Development at Kennedy Station - Smart Density

A leading-vision of how to maximize the city-building and affordable-housing opportunities on the Kennedy station north parking lot site within the goals of the City of Toronto’s HousingNOW program.

smartdensity.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1280126549354782720

 

[Amare]

Knowing the city, they will probably aim for 2 x 5 story towers (ie: wasting the most of amount of density possible). Then they'll pat themselves on the back for the wonders they are doing for affordable housing since they've built oh so much shelter space everywhere.

 

[A Torontonian Now]

Possible land use concepts and vision by Smart Density:

View attachment 265844

The massing render shows how appropriate this density would be for the location - I do not see how anyone could see this as overdevelopment, and much less density as anything but a wasted opportunity. Well-situated public lands are not infinite, and ought to be used well.

 

[AlbertC]

If we want affordable housing, the numbers must work for everyone | RENX - Real Estate News Exchange

Earlier this summer, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the locations for Housing Now’s Phase II sites. They are part of Toronto’s initiative to increase the supply of new affordable rental housing within mixed-income, transit-oriented communities on city-owned lands. “Housing Now”

renx.ca

One of the six sites is the 2.9-acre Kennedy Station North Parking Lot.

As part of the HousingNowTO submission, this planning report demonstrates a vision to maximize city-building and affordable-housing opportunities on the site.

This site enjoys a high level of current and planned future transit options. It lies directly across from the Kennedy Mobility Hub, which includes the Kennedy Subway Station and bus terminal, the Kennedy GO Station, as well as the planned terminus of Phase I of the Eglinton LRT.

The plan for the site includes three towers, of 19, 20, and 36 storeys, containing a total of 807 units (269 will be made affordable). The Don Montgomery Community Centre was also relocated to the site as per the recommendation of the Kennedy Mobility Hub Master Plan.

In total, the project has a Floor Space Index of 7.5 and a residential GFA of just under 680,000 square feet.

It is clear Toronto has a long way to go if it intends to meet its 2030 affordable housing target.

Although the city has made some positive forward progress, we must still do far more to treat the affordable housing crisis with the urgency our politicians regularly say it deserves.

 

[ferusian]

From a Nov. 20 report prepared by CreateTO's Vice President of Development: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.RA19.5#

2444 Eglinton Avenue East

Real property due diligence currently underway. CreateTO has selected an architecture firm and work is scheduled to begin on concept design before the end of November 2020. This site has been selected by the Housing Secretariat, City Planning and CreateTO pilot to go to market in advance of a zoning submission. Before the pilot is launched consultation will be held with the Ward Councillor and community. The pilot will be used to assess if this approach shortens the overall timelines (including securing in-force zoning for the site) for the ultimate delivery of constructed and occupied affordable housing units. Through the pilot, CreateTO will also try to assess the following:

• Regulatory Risks: what is the impact on market interest on Housing Now sites when the developer, and not City/CreateTO, will carry the risk of an appeal of the zoning by-law?
• Financing: how is access to CMHC financing affected by a developer-led, rather than City-lead re-zoning process, when financing is contingent on zoned sites
• Financial savings: does the approach set up through the pilot result in any financial savings to the City?
• Quality: is the quality of the application equal with re-zoning that would be prepared and reviewed collaboratively with CreateTO and City Planning?

 

[ferusian]

Five Housing Now Developments Adding Density Across the City | UrbanToronto

We look at five projects recently seen by Toronto's Design Review Panel as part of Phase 2 of the Housing Now program which fast-tracks the development of City-owned properties adjacent to rapid transit with a significant portion of the units earmarked for affordable housing.

urbantoronto.ca

One of the most important transit hubs in the city, Kennedy station is the terminus for the Bloor-Danforth subway, the Scarborough RT, and the soon-to-be-complete Crosstown LRT, while also providing a connection to the Stouffville GO line. It comes as no surprise that the City is planning to add significant density here as part of the Housing Now program.

Enlisting Zeidler Architecture for the design, the City is proposing three towers at 2444 Eglinton East, rising to heights of 22, 30 and 40 storeys. The triangular plot of land is located directly to the north of Kennedy station, bordered by Eglinton to the south, the hydro corridor to the north, and the rail corridor to the east.

The 30- and 40-storey towers sit atop a shared podium, while the 22-storey tower rests on its own podium, with outdoor amenity spaces in between. The current proposal includes a total of 926 residential units, with a minimum of one-third affordable rental units and a minimum of one-third market units, with the remainder of the unit mix to be determined with the eventual development partner. More than half of the proposed units are one-bedrooms, with two- and three-bedroom units making up the rest of the mix. The base of the building includes a community space, residential amenities, and townhouses, with no retail proposed on site.

 

[HousingNowTO]

First public-meeting for this KENNEDY station site is next week...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1376991876583198722

 

[Northern Light]

 

[ProjectEnd]

Some images from the meeting last night. Decent amount of support from area residents - not 100% but a surprising number of voices in favour. Most dissent came from the Rainbow Village Condos directly to the east.

3 towers, 40, 30, and 22 storeys. 900 units total, 300 of which are targeted 'affordable'. Project will be 100% rental.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

This is noticeably higher density than what was proposed in the November 2020 HousingNow report.