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Saturday, July 20 saw Bloor Street West alive with foot as opposed to vehicular traffic for the Big on Bloor Festival, while at community leaders and developers simultaneously came together to mark a ground breaking of the affordable housing component of the Bloor & Dufferin masterplanned community. The ceremony spotlighted the 8-storey building to be built at 1159 Bloor Street West in Bloordale Village, designed by Turner Fleischer Architects.
Gathered at the event were representatives from the development teams of Hazelview Investments and Fitzrovia Real Estate Inc., including Colleen Krempulec, Managing Partner and Head of Sustainability and Brand at Hazelview. Also in attendance were representatives from the non-profit Community Affordable Housing Solutions (CAHS), who worked with the developers on this initiative. They were joined by Councillor Alejandra Bravo of Ward 9, and Marit Stiles, MPP and Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
UrbanToronto had the opportunity to speak with Krempulec and Bravo about the development. Bravo summarized the initiative, sharing that, "Development is really about building community and building projects that provide multiple benefits, and that’s what’s very exciting about this.”
The affordable housing at 1159 Bloor Street West will rise at the northwest corner of the Bloor & Dufferin community. This 56-unit building represents a component of the developers’ commitment to contribute to Toronto's affordable housing, having pledged a total of $17 million over five years towards creating at least 180 affordable units and enhancing community spaces within the neighbourhood, with at least half of the funds going towards this development. Krempulec highlighted its importance, stating, "It's a great example of the private sector, public sector, and the non-profit space coming together in a three-way partnership to deliver solutions to housing challenges that we have in the city right now."
A key feature of the Bloor-Dufferin masterplan is a 2,787m² community hub, which incorporates a 743m² childcare centre within the preserved structure of the historic Kent School. "Preserving some of the heritage components was important as a publicly available community space, and as services for community members," Krempulec noted.
This hub, alongside the affordable housing building, will be conveyed to the City of Toronto, ensuring they remain accessible and beneficial to the public. Krempulec shared that "the community benefits package here is one of, if not the largest, community benefits package in play in Ontario right now."
To create the affordable housing building, a not-for-profit land trust was created by Habitat for Humanity GTA, St Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society, and CAHS. "There is no silver bullet to fix the housing situation,” Krempulec said, “but it does have to be a partnership between the public and private sectors.”
A new 3,580m² public park at the southwest end of the community will offer vital green space and pedestrian pathways. Additionally, the development will feature a new pedestrian tunnel providing direct access to the Dufferin subway station, and other publicly accessible spaces like plazas and artist mews.
Construction across the development is progressing, with all buildings for Blocks A through E now at grade or higher. Fitzrovia's Marlow buildings on the west end, designated as Blocks C, D, and E, have each ascended to approximately six storeys high, with Block C right at Bloor and Dufferin standing at seven storeys so far.
To the west at Hazelview's Block B, the 37-storey tower's third-floor slab is currently being poured, and the adjacent 34-storey tower has construction on the second floor underway. To their north, Hazelview's Block A is at grade.
Councillor Bravo commended the community-building efforts, noting, "I think it restores people's faith that it is possible to do good work in the city. We worked very closely with the community and the developers to see how we can accelerate that. I’m very pleased to see that, and those practices need to continue."
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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