Plans for implementing one of the largest affordable housing projects in Toronto, Ontario, in the last 25 years are underway.
Dubbed 2444 Eglinton Avenue East, the project is set for development on a 2.44-acre site at 2444 Eglinton Ave. E. in Scarborough Centre, Toronto. Currently, the site features a vacant autobody shop and serves as the Kennedy Station commuter parking lot.
The city of Toronto owns the land on which the project, which is a part of the Housing Now Initiative will be developed. The Housing Now Initiative was approved by the city council in January 2019. The initiative allows the use of city-owned lands to develop more affordable rental housing.
In January 2024, the city through CreateTO announced Civic Developments, Windmill Developments and Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) as the development partners for the project. CreateTO is an agency formed in 2018 to manage the city’s real estate portfolio, while Civic is a residential development company based in Toronto.
Windmill, on the other hand, is a revolutionary real estate development company committed to the transformation of traditional development practices. CHFT is a cooperative association made up of member housing co-ops and related organizations in the Durham, Toronto and York Regions.
Start of construction of 2444 Eglinton Avenue East and proposed features
The construction of the 2444 Eglinton Avenue East is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed three years later in 2028. The project team is currently awaiting the necessary zoning bylaw amendments and planning approvals.
The development will feature three buildings. Two co-op buildings (one with a total of 41 floors and the other with 19 floors) and a 31-storey market ownership building. The co-op buildings will make the project the province’s largest co-operative development.
In the three 2444 Eglinton Avenue East, buildings will be a total of 918 homes or their thereabouts. The homes will include 612 rent-geared-to-income affordable homes. The homes will be a mix of studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom as well as three-bedroom apartments.
In addition to the homes, 2444 Eglinton Avenue East will also offer 3,580 square feet of community space as well as 12,770 square feet of retail space. The developments’ location next to the Kennedy Mobility Hub and other major transit lines enhances its appeal, ensuring residents enjoy superior connectivity and accessibility to essential services.
The solution to one of the biggest challenges facing Toronto today
Reportedly, one of the biggest challenges facing Toronto today is a distinct lack of affordable, environmentally sustainable as well as transit-connected housing for people across a diverse range of incomes. In other words, a lack of truly mixed-income communities and 2444 Eglinton Avenue East is a part of the solution to this problem.
According to the city of Toronto, rent for rent-geared-to-income and affordable co-op homes will be set between 40 and 100 per cent of average market rent as reported annually by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. These will make the homes affordable to people across varying income levels.
At least 33 per cent of the affordable homes and 15 per cent of the market rental homes in the development will be accessible in line with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
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