U of T planning laneway homes pilot project by next year

Christine Burke, director of campus and facilities planning at U of T, said the university aims to build the homes, across the street from Robarts Library, as housing for grad students or visiting faculty.

Thestar.com
March 6, 2017
By May Warren

The University of Toronto is planning to build two laneway houses in the Annex by next year, and could build up to 40 to 50 more as the city explores one possible solution to Toronto’s housing woes.

Christine Burke, director of campus and facilities planning at U of T, said the university aims to build the homes, across the street from Robarts Library, as housing for grad students or visiting faculty. Citywide consultations were held late last year on laneway suites, and she hopes construction can be completed by fall 2018.

“It makes sense to us because it’s an opportunity to do light touch intensification to the neighbourhood,” said Burke.

It also provides more housing options and the potential for more stability in the neighbourhood through possible longer leases, she added.

Sometimes called granny suites, laneway suites are small detached units usually found at the back of residential lots adjacent to alleyways.

Depending on the results of the pilot project, the next phase is 40 to 50 more in the same area, where the university owns most of the land.

It’s all part of a neighbourhood plan officials developed with the residents association. They don’t expect as many roadblocks as a typical laneway project, but they will still have to clear city-planning approvals, Burke said.

Evergreen Brick Works senior project manager Jo Flatt has been pushing for the city to ease current zoning restrictions around laneway housing, along with councillors Mary-Margaret McMahon and Ana Bailão and laneway advocacy group Lanescape.

Flatt sees unlocking the potential of laneway suites as one way to address the lack of housing supply.

“It allows you to have access in communities where you can’t build a high-rise,” she said.

Homeowners who need a little extra cash could also benefit from what’s “essentially a basement apartment put in the back of your lot,” she added.

There are more than 2,400 laneways across 300 km in Toronto, according Michelle Senayah, co-founder and director of The Laneway Project.

Other Canadian cities, including Vancouver, have already developed policies that make building laneway suites easier.