Kensington Market parking lot to be turned into affordable housing steps away from encampment

The city says that it is moving forward with two affordable housing projects – one of them a plan to turn a parking lot in Kensington Market into affordable housing, even though the project is not fully funded yet.

The city says the project in Kensington Market will put 78 new homes at 35 Bellevue Ave., with a mix of private studio and one-bedroom apartments. The building will include amenities such as shared laundry, a communal kitchen and programming spaces for residents.

"We are having a housing crisis. People are dying on our streets, and it's just sheer desperation. Having housing means we can save lives. We can create hope," Mayor Olivia Chow said at the announcement Monday morning.

The new modular homes will be set aside for individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless. The units will be offered as rent geared to income homes, with no tenant paying more than 30 per cent of their income or the shelter allowance of their social assistance. The city says the tenants will also have access to range of wraparound support services intended to improve their, housing, stability, health, and well-being.

"There is a desperate need in this city for affordable housing and this is going to be a wonderful new affordable housing development," Coun. Dianne Saxe said at the announcement.

The new homes will be located just steps away from a park where an encampment has sprung up.

Chow said the project is not specifically to house those individuals, but she said some of them are likely on the 26,000-person waiting list to receive supportive housing.

"That's the desperation that I'm talking about," she said. "Some of the folks that are living on Bellevue Square probably are on our waiting list, and we would like to build a lot more supportive housing. We need many, many more projects like this one."

The Kensington Market Community Land Trust (KMCLT) and St. Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society (St. Clare’s) will lease and operate the building once it is completed.

Through the Toronto Parking Authority, the city is donating $3.6 million worth of land for the project while Section 37 contributions are being used to enhance the climate performance of the building by using mass timber building technology as well as other technologies.

However, Chow said the city is looking for $2 million from the province to help operate the facility annually and is still hoping that the federal government will come to the table with $28.7 million in capital funds for the project.

While that money is not secure yet, Chow said the desperate housing situation in the city means that the municipality must move forward anyhow.

"This site has not received it, but we're confident we will," Chow said.

She pointed out that the latest federal budget committed new funds through the Rapid Housing Initiative and said the city is applying for that fund.

The federal government has already kicked in $21.6 million for another project that will see 42 new rent-geared-to-income and supportive homes for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness at 11 Brock Avenue in Parkdale.

Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC) has been selected as the community housing provider for that development. The group will lease and operate the building once construction is completed.

Construction on both projects is slated to begin this fall and is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.