Tory hopes to get more developers building affordable housing

680news.com
April 27, 2015

Mayor John Tory says it’s time to “cut red tape and streamline the process for developers” so more affordable housing can be built in Toronto.

At a news conference on Monday, Tory announced the Open Door initiative, which would make it easier for private and non-profit developers to build affordable housing on city land.

The approach would provide financial incentives to help reduce construction costs, and seeks to get provincial and federal governments to increase their efforts.

With more than 90,000 families on the Housing Connections waiting list, Tory said the city needs to do things faster.

Tory, along with councillors Ana Bailao and Josh Matlow, unveiled the initiative while standing on vacant city-owned land at 200 Madison Ave., near Spadina Road and Dupont Street, which was declared for affordable housing 10 years ago but still sits vacant.

“It has been in development limbo [...] here it sits 10 years later still vacant. Unacceptable,” Tory said.

The mayor said the city set a goal in 2009 of building 10,000 affordable housing units in 10 years, but is “massively behind” with only 2,800 going up in the first five years.

“We should be opening doors for those who want to build more affordable housing,” Tory said.

The mayor said the city had a goal of 250 new units a year, but instead has built just 52 a year.

“The days of the grazing elephant in times of rapid change must come to an end at city hall on the affordable housing file,” Tory said.

One of the Open Door recommendations is to invest $20 million from the Development Charges Reserve Fund for Subsidized Housing in order to “quick start” developments.

Bailao said the recommendations will be considered at the executive committee meeting in May, and expects a staff report by the end of the year.

“I am challenging developers in all parts of the sector to do more to build more affordable housing,” Tory said, while calling on the federal and provincial governments to release more government-owned land.

The city is also seeking to start building affordable rental housing at the Madison site by 2016, providing more than 80 affordable units for about 200 people from the Housing Connections waiting list. Bailao said the rent will be below CMHC’s average market rent.

Coun. Matlow, who represents Ward 22, thanked Tory for accelerating the process, adding it is “so refreshing to finally have a mayor that gets it.”

The Affordable Housing Committee will be discussing the Open Door Initiative at its meeting on Monday.

To view video coverage of this story, please click this link: http://www.680news.com/2015/04/27/tory-hopes-to-get-more-developers-building-affordable-housing/