Kensington Market parking lot set to become affordable housing 

By Meredith Poirier

The parking lot at 35 Bellevue Ave. was filled with excitement and commotion on the morning of August 12 as an announcement was made by University-Rosedale councillor Dianne Saxe that the site would be the newest location of an affordable housing development. Mayor Olivia Chow as well as representatives from the Kensington Market Community Land Trust (KMCLT) and St. Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society (St. Clare’s) were all present during the press conference as they are all working in partnership on this exciting and ever necessary development. 

The announcement comes at a dire time as just steps away from the parking lot is an encampment where unhoused individuals are residing. Many of these folks are likely on the list of the almost 90,000 active applicants for social housing in the city. 

This development is a partnership between the City of Toronto, KMCLT and St. Clare’s. KMCLT is a non-profit corporation that works to “protect the social and economic diversity of the neighbourhood.” Currently they own and operate a mixed-use property in Kensington Market that has 12 affordable rental units. St. Clare’s is a non-profit that provides affordable housing in downtown Toronto.

Kevin Barrett, co-chair of the KMCLT board, explained that this project has been a long time coming.  “Very early in the life of our organization, we identified that Green P parking lot on Bellevue as a really important piece of land of the neighborhood.” Early in 2018, they held a community visioning session to try to imagine what could happen at this site. Affordable housing was at the top of everyone’s minds. 

KMCLT has been working tirelessly to get this project started. Since 2018, it has been advocating for the city to take the lead on this public housing project. Earlier this year the City of Toronto put out a call for proposals looking for community partners for the development of the parking lot at 35 Bellevue Ave., Barrett explained. 

KMCLT and St. Clare’s were chosen and are now working very closely with the city on this important project. “I just want to emphasize how excited we are. I think this is a really, really great moment for the neighborhood of the city. We’re very appreciative of the leadership that Mayor Chow has offered,” said Barrett. 

Construction is slated to start in the coming months with the hope of a completion date around the end of 2025. 

The building itself will be a four-storey structure with at least 78 units. The units will be private apartments equipped with a bathroom and a kitchen, and the building itself will boast communal spaces such as a community kitchen and on-site laundry. 

While this project’s main aim is to support the housing crisis in the city, it will also focus on the climate crisis and sustainability. Composite mass timber, a renewable resource, will be used in the construction, and the building will be designed to exceed Tier 2 of the Toronto Green Standard, which essentially means that voluntary efforts will be put in by the team to ensure the building has low emissions and is prepared for the future (and what the climate crisis may entail). 

The City of Toronto’s communications advisor explained that the future residents of this building will be people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. 

The city and St. Clare’s will select residents through the city’s coordinated access processes. 

Once the building is complete, KMCLT will be the owner of the building. They will take on a long-term lease in partnership with the city to ensure that the land will not be sold. Day-to-day property management and support of residents will be managed by St. Clare’s.

READ MORE: 

• NEWS: Parking versus housing (Oct. 2020)
• CHATTER: Kensington Market HCD enters planning phase (Nov. 2017)
• NEWS: Preserving culture and history (MARCH 2017)
• FORUM: Our dynamic Kensington Market (November 2016)
• NEWS: Kensington Market to become heritage district (May 2016)