City Building

School of Cities releases plan to boost mixed-use development in Toronto

geoff.vendeville — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 18:20:51 +0000

School of Cities releases plan to boost mixed-use development in Toronto

geoff.vendeville Thu, 04/21/2022 - 14:20

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A plan by U of T's School of Cities calls for more mixed-use development in Toronto, blending residential, commercial and other uses, to support the creation of affordable housing (images and photo courtesy of Infrastructure Institute, School of Cities)

Peter Boisseau

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

School of Cities

City Building

Faculty of Arts & Science

Urban Planning

Family shelters below upscale condos, student housing above a rec centre and affordable housing built on top of community spaces offering social services.

Matti Siemiatycki

These are a few local examples of mixed-use development, a kind of urban planning not often found in Toronto that blends residential, commercial and other uses. Amid pandemic-related economic pressures and skyrocketing real estate prices, there is an even greater need for such development, says Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute in the ��Ƶ's School of Cities.

“There's something like 50 of these buildings in Toronto, but each one of them has a long and often painful story behind it, where essentially the partners got to the end of what they could do on their own,” says Siemiatycki, who is also a professor in the department of geography and planning in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

With the help of a donor, the School of Cities recently rolled out a three-pronged, city-building plan emphasizing mixed-use development. The plan includes a social purpose real estate accelerator to spur development that benefits the community, Siemiatycki says.

“We want to morph this into the norm rather than the exception and bring partners together intentionally, to turn it into a model of creative mixed-uses designed for a social purpose, because that’s what enables growth to drive community benefit.”

The infrastructure institute is partnering with the city’s real estate agency on public property development projects, such as fire and paramedic stations with affordable housing built above them, Siemiatycki adds.

A public exhibit of artists' concepts and architectural models opened this week in Regent Park, in the city's downtown, as part of the institute’s plan to spark interest in the exciting possibilities for Toronto and other urban centres, he says.

North Toronto Collegiate Institute, a high school co-located with condos.

“The idea behind the whole project is to leverage development to ensure social purpose is being built into our communities by integrating a mix of social uses into government and for-profit buildings.”

The institute’s research shows this type of development is already happening, but largely as a last resort. Examples cited in the research include the co-location of schools, libraries, recreation centres and childcare into community hubs.

Siemiatycki hopes the social purpose mixed-use model might even form a significant part of the city’s HousingTO Action Plan to approve 40,000 new affordable rental homes by 2030.

“I'm always reluctant to make claims that sound like you're grasping at the stars. But I also think you have to set the bar high,” he says.

“This is essentially about re-envisioning how we build a city. A school doesn't have to be a two-storey building with nothing above it; a recreation centre doesn't need to just be three stories with a gym and a parking lot.”

The Red Door family shelter co-located with condos.

The institute’s work on social purpose real estate is part of the School of Cities’ mission to be an incubator for innovative solutions that make cities more inclusive and prosperous, says Karen Chapple, the school’s director and a professor of geography and planning.

“As it leverages its real estate to serve broader social needs, Toronto is pioneering a powerful new model for infill development for other global cities to follow,” she says.

The institute launched a series of free training models in March for anyone interested in learning about social purpose real estate. Later this spring, it will begin admitting organizations into an accelerator program that focuses on how to undertake a social purpose real estate project. The program, which formally launches in September, will help participants develop a final business plan that will attract private, philanthropic or government funding.

“Many nonprofits have legacy properties they've been running for decades,” Siemiatycki says. “In many cases, the mortgage is paid off but the property is deteriorating for lack of money.

“There’s real opportunities through social purpose real estate for many of those organizations to leverage their assets to further the mission of their organizations and create affordable places for people to live.”

Artist’s concept of mixed-use development, housing and fire station.

The School of Cities was able to develop its ambitious city-building plan thanks to a $1.5 million gift from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

The gift also helped support another project that may help the city derive social benefits from its extensive real estate holdings.

Siemiatycki says the city’s CreateTO real estate agency is keen to explore opportunities to mix existing fire and paramedic stations with affordable housing, social services and commercial uses, working with the School of Cities team to develop a proof of concept.

“We're already working on the design of a fire station that would have housing above it,” says Siemiatycki, who notes the city has more than 120 fire and paramedic stations.

“It's pretty incredible when you think of how many fire stations and paramedic hubs there are around the city. They're often one or two-storey buildings, and many of them are on arterial roads, so they're in great locations for development potential,” he says.

U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes

Romi Levine — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 14:49:02 +0000

U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes

Romi Levine Fri, 03/03/2017 - 09:49

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Award-winning architect and U of T Professor Brigitte Shim lives in a laneway house in Leslieville (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

On Location

Smart Cities

Sustainable Cities

Subheadline

“What happens in architecture schools should not be seen as a project... but as a way of projecting a different future for our cities”

Twenty-five years ago, award-winning architect Brigitte Shim was scoping out a location to build her home.

“It was a derelict lot with six abandoned cars, and weeds that were shoulder height,” she says.

Shim, a professor at ��Ƶ at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, decided the laneway in what is now Leslieville was the perfect space to design and build her dream home.

“In the end, I felt it was a really amazing experience to actually have gone through, not only the design process but the municipal approval process,” she says. “After building it and living in it, I actually thought that it was a really interesting territory for future densification in our cities.”

Today, laneway housing is seeing a renewal.

As housing prices and the cost to rent in Toronto continue to rise, architects like Shim, city councillors, community groups and the ��Ƶ are exploring different ways to make the city more liveable and sustainable – and laneways have been a popular starting point.

U of T is hoping to build around 50 laneway houses in the Huron-Sussex neighbourhood – across the street from Robarts Library. While it’s still in the planning stages, the university hopes to kick-start a pilot project by 2018 to build two laneway houses in the alley located just west of Huron Street and north of Glen Morris Street.

“It provides a different texture to the neighbourhood. Because these units will be smaller, it does add to a range of options for housing so not just in the Victorian homes that are scattered through the neighbourhood but also the opportunity for smaller-scale and more affordable living,” says Christine Burke, director of campus and facilities planning at U of T.

According to the Laneway Project, there are 2,400 publicly-owned laneways in Toronto, stretching over 250 kilometres. While there are a few laneway houses, most of these narrow streets are lined with graffiti-covered garages and garbage bins. Building a home in a laneway is only currently permitted on a case-by-case basis by the city, and it could take a while to get the right permits.

City Councillor Ana Bailão for Ward 18 and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon for Ward 32 are working with community groups Evergreen CityWorks and Lanescape to explore different policy options to make laneway housing more widespread.

“Together as a group we're trying to change the conversation and push forward recommendations to the City of Toronto on how to make laneway suites doable in the city,” says Jo Flatt, U of T alumna and senior project manager at Evergreen.

The university is working closely with the Huron-Sussex Residents Organization, the City of Toronto, Evergreen and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects to ensure that all parties are involved in the vision for the neighbourhood’s future.

“There's a profound understanding of the need to do something with lanes throughout the city, and this is a good place to start and show how it can be successfully done. That's our hope,” says Andy Vice, vice-president of the Huron-Sussex Residents Organization. “It's a chance to shine a light and lead by example.”

From left to right, Huron-Sussex Residents Organization members Béatrice Lego, Julie Mathien and Andy Vice (photo by Romi Levine)

The neighbourhood has a high turnover rate because a large proportion of residents are students, and visiting faculty members and their families. Members of the Residents Organization hope new housing options will allow residents to stay longer either as homeowners or on longer-term leases.

“If there's more housing, there won't be the imperative to keep moving people through,” says Julie Mathien, president of the Residents Organization.

Shim hopes more neighbourhoods in Toronto embrace laneway housing.

“Development doesn't mean tearing down all the buildings and starting from scratch. As homeowners need more space, more flexibility, it's something that can be additive and doesn't need to be a razing of the block,” she says.

Other cities around the world including Vancouver and London, England, have already embraced laneway housing, creating models Toronto can emulate, says Shim.

U of T’s architecture talent can play a big role in shaping the way we think about housing, she says.

“What happens in architecture schools should not be seen as a project, a hypothetical situation, but as a way of projecting a different future for our cities,” says Shim. “We can tackle big questions like this and keep pushing on them. Student projects become real projects where we actually can reshape the future of our cities.”

The U of T alumni behind Honest Ed’s big farewell bash

Romi Levine — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 21:03:43 +0000

The U of T alumni behind Honest Ed’s big farewell bash

Romi Levine Wed, 02/22/2017 - 16:03

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Toronto for Everyone co-producer Hima Batavia poses with a cutout of Honest Ed's namesake, Ed Mirvish (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

Subheadline

The bash hopes to celebrate Toronto’s diversity and advocate for inclusivity

Hima Batavia remembers making the trek to Honest Ed’s as a kid once a month from Scarborough with her family.

As a first generation Canadian, the U of T alumna knows firsthand how the iconic department store and Toronto’s immigrant story are so closely intertwined.

“This place was really a community hub in so many ways, and it was a place for everyone,” she says.

So when she was asked by the Centre for Social Innovation’s (CSI) Executive Director Adil Dhalla to co-produce a giant, multi-day goodbye party for Ed’s with her best friend Negin Sairafi, she jumped at the opportunity.

“Our eyes just lit up,” says Batavia.

The big send-off is being organized by CSI’s brainchild Toronto for Everyone – a city-building group made up of community leaders and volunteers from all over the city with the aim of celebrating Toronto’s diversity and advocating for inclusivity.

“An Honest Farewell” runs from Feb. 23-26, kicking off with a gala and continuing throughout the weekend with a number of free and ticketed events including a giant art maze, a town hall and a buy-local market.

Honest Ed's has been more-or-less cleaned out, but there are a few quirky remnants of its department store past (photo by Romi Levine)

Stefan Hostetter, one of Toronto for Everyone’s community directors, says the event is a reflection of the city’s relationship between old and new.

“It's simultaneously that tension between the loss of something important to people and the need for something new. That's what exists everywhere,” says Hostetter, who is working alongside fellow U of T alumnus Erin Kang at the Community Hub.

The Hub provides a space in Honest Ed’s for businesses and community groups from all over the GTA to create a diverse range of programming.

“It's for the people. It's by the people. And, it's free,” says Hostetter. “Community organizations are the lifeblood of our city so we wanted to get them to be able to feel like they're not just attending but involved.”

"Ed's was a first landing ground for new immigrants and for people just coming into the city because it was cheap, because they respected you and because of Ed's love for the community itself," says Stefan Hostetter (photo by Romi Levine)

Pulling off an event that’s truly “for everyone” has been challenging – and expensive, says Batavia.

“It's trying to make a 70-year-old building accessible,” she says. “It's thinking about art for all different demographics and abilities. It's thinking about pricing for different demographics and socio-economic statuses but still trying to pull off an event that breaks even.”

The Toronto for Everyone team knew true inclusivity was not easily attainable, but they felt it was important to be held to that standard.

“One of our plans is to release a report to illustrate where we succeeded and where we failed, and how we can do better as an organization and as a city and community,” says Batavia.

She says the report will be a healthy and meaningful exercise in accountability.

“I think that as a society, we can often not be forgiving. We haven't yet created a culture where it's OK and important to fail,” Batavia says. “By naming our failures it gives us the opportunity to learn and to do better.”

Torontonians attending “An Honest Farewell” will be able to access parts of Honest Ed's that were previously off-limits, like Ed Mirvish's former office (photo by Romi Levine)

The weekend’s events are a way for Torontonians to say goodbye to Ed’s, but it’s also an opportunity to move its narrative forward with the launch of the Toronto for Everyone Fund, a charitable initiative that will support inclusivity education in Toronto.

“This will be a chance to make a big splash and bring that intention throughout the city whether it's allyship workshops or helping other organizations working on similar issues,” says Hostetter.

Batavia hopes Toronto for Everyone will push the city to set an example for the rest of the world.

“Toronto is in this really unique position. We're all talking about how we're moving out of our adolescence, we're growing up, and we're ready to take a seat on the world stage. I think where we can really shine is being a model for inclusivity – locally and globally – and show our neighbours what that looks like.”

This weekend is your last chance to say goodbye to the interior of the iconic Honest Ed's building (photo by Romi Levine)

Toronto’s future city builders: meet U of T's Erin Kang

Romi Levine — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 18:51:48 +0000

Toronto’s future city builders: meet U of T's Erin Kang

Romi Levine Mon, 12/05/2016 - 13:51

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Erin Kang helps Torontonians tell their stories at Stories of Ours events (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

They're the new generation of Toronto city builders.

Meet the ambitious ��Ƶ students and recent grads poised to become big players in shaping the city’s identity and contributing to its growth.

This is part of an ongoing series from U of T News writer Romi Levine.

For Erin Kang, city building is about empowerment.

And the ��Ƶ urban studies alumna practises what she preaches.

Through Stories of Ours, her storytelling project, Torontonians from all walks of life are encouraged to share their lived experiences at regular live events.

“We’re using stories and art to challenge dominant narratives, challenge what status quo stories are, challenge single-narrative stories and work with people to empower them to use their voice to either heal, heal others or advocate – everyone has their own reason,” says Kang.

Her motivation to create a community of storytellers came in part from the desire to introduce her mom to a larger community of people who have faced similar challenges.

“My mom's circle is so Korean, and she doesn't really interact with others outside of the Korean population. That made me so sad because I learnt so much from others, and in Korean culture, you don't share a lot,” she says.

“She was proud to see me do this, and she was touched that she was such a big inspiration for it. I think she really has begun to open her mind since then.”

Because of her work with Stories of Ours, Kang has been nominated for Samara Canada’s Everyday Political Citizen Award. She also spent this past summer at the University of Cambridge as an Ariane de Rothschild fellow, developing a business plan for the project.

Kang has also developed storytelling workshops for health centres and women’s shelters and hosts a Stories of Ours podcast.

“I've worked with at least 100 different people at this point who are all incredible and most of them thought they had nothing to say, that no one wanted to listen.”

Kang strongly believes that empowerment can also come from community engagement.

“It really isn't that difficult to make an impact in your community,” she says.

“That realization in people that they can actually make a difference is really satisfying for me,” she says.

Kang helps make those connections, managing a social network for community groups called Shape My City.

“We're trying to understand how to leverage our position as a network to be the bridge between what's being done on the ground and the formal city institutions and create that dialogue,” she says.

It's the grassroots mobilization that Torontonians are getting really good at, says Kang.

“Because we have such a diverse population, there's real potential for us to be very strong allies across everything – across movements, sectors. I think we're getting there,” she says.

"When you see, for instance, the overlaps between movements like Black Lives Matter, Idle No More, Pride – the conversations they’re stimulating are challenging and divisive, but wherever there's potential for division, there's potential for togetherness."