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City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
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News Release

June 27, 2024

Toronto City Council approves partnership to build more affordable housing in midtown Toronto

Toronto City Council has agreed to leverage City of Toronto-owned lands at 275 Merton St. to build 447 new purpose-built rental homes in midtown Toronto. This project includes a minimum target of 30 per cent affordable rental homes to remain affordable in perpetuity.

To maximize the site’s housing potential and help create more affordable rental homes, the City led negotiations through CreateTO to form a development partnership with Collecdev-Markee to combine the property at 275 Merton St. with an adjacent site owned by the developer.

The adjacent site – located at 267 Merton St. – will be transferred into City ownership and then leased back to Collecdev-Markee along with the City-owned site for a period of 99 years to enable the redevelopment. Collecdev-Markee will deliver and operate the new rental homes while the City will retain ownership of both properties.

Once leased to Collecdev-Markee, the development will follow the City’s standard planning application process. Construction of the 275 Merton project is anticipated to begin in the second half of 2025 with first occupancy in mid-2028.

The city is facing two housing crises – a lack of deeply affordable and supportive housing for low-income marginalized and vulnerable residents and, more recently, rising rents have made it increasingly unaffordable for middle income earners, essential workers and professionals to live in Toronto. Creating a range of new rental homes including rent-geared-to-income, affordable rental and rent-controlled homes is critical in addressing the housing needs of Toronto's current and future residents.

This partnership provides an opportunity to leverage City land to deliver a range of rental homes including affordable rental homes in support of the City's HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan targets to approve 65,000 new rent-controlled homes by 2030. More information about the HousingTO 2020-2023 Action Plan can be found on the City’s Website: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/94f0-housing-to-2020-2030-action-plan-housing-secretariat.pdf

More information about this proposed development is available on the CreateTO website: https://createto.ca/projects/275-merton-street

Quotes:

“Through this partnership, the City is supporting a strategic land assembly that will deliver significant city-building benefits, including a substantial number of affordable and market rent-controlled homes. The proposed housing project is a much-needed step towards delivering on the City's housing targets and will provide options for Torontonians of low-and moderate-income levels.”
– Mayor Olivia Chow

“One of the key aspects of the City’s HousingTO Plan is to use City lands and partnerships to enable the delivery of housing. We are at a critical moment in Toronto and we are finally building the housing we need in this city. Projects like this at 275 Merton Street are all part of the solution to bring real affordability to the people of Toronto and people who want to call Toronto home.”
– Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park), Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee

“CreateTO is honoured to bring this project at 275 Merton Street to life with a wonderful partner in Collecdev-Markee. Our mission is to unlock public land and activate it for the public good. Championing the City's vision of providing affordable housing on City-owned lands is central to our mandate and approach.”
– Vic Gupta, CEO, CreateTO

“Collecdev-Markee is proud to support the City of Toronto’s aggressive strategy on City-owned lands to build much-needed affordable rental units. Staff with the City and CreateTO have been absolutely fantastic to work with and we are excited to see this advance.”
– Jennifer Keesmaat, President & CEO, Collecdev-Markee

CreateTO was formed in 2018 as the City of Toronto’s real estate agency. The organization brings together stakeholders, partners and community members to ensure the best use of the City’s real estate assets for today and tomorrow. CreateTO manages the City’s $27 billion real estate portfolio, develops City buildings and lands for municipal purposes and delivers client focused real estate solutions – ensuring a balance of both community and economic benefits to build the city we love. More information is available on the CreateTO website.

Toronto is home to more than three million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture, innovation and climate action and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit www.toronto.ca or follow us on X at x.com/cityoftoronto, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofto.


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Media contacts:
Media Relations, City of Toronto, media@toronto.ca
Media Relations, CreateTO, media@createto.ca
Alex Mather, Collecdev-Markee, alex@collecdevmarkee.com



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