10% of apartments in towers to be affordable for 99 years.Protest

Dear neighbours,

After over a year of community effort, BBBD is pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Primaris REIT to provide 120 affordable rental units in the planned new Dufferin Mall tower development. These affordable units will make up over 10% of the total residences in the new buildings and have been secured for 99 years.

They will be reserved for local people struggling with housing. Tenants will be referred by local non-profit agencies who provide settlement and housing supports in our neighbourhood, and the City of Toronto’s Affordable Housing Office will create strong tenant support and eviction prevention plans to make sure that tenants get the supports they need.

We are very excited about this agreement’s contribution to the Bloor Dufferin neighbourhood. Not only will it provide much-needed affordable housing but it sets a minimum expectation for future developments in the area. As a result of the agreement, BBBD has withdrawn our legal opposition to the new development at the Land Use Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT). Nonetheless, we were disappointed that negotiations did not result in other important community benefits on the site, like significantly improved park space or increased child, youth and senior care and activity space to enhance our growing and vibrant community. 

This was truly a community effort. We would like to thank Ward 9 City Councillor Ana Bailão, who supported us throughout this process, ensuring that our voices were heard by City staff and by the developers. Thanks are also due to the other members of the Dufferin Mall Community Working Group, who set the bar high from the beginning, with a strong community vision statement for the site. 

We would like to thank Ward 9 City Councillor Ana Bailão, who supported us throughout this process, ensuring that our voices were heard by City staff and by the developers. Thanks are also due to the other members of the Dufferin Mall Community Working Group, who set the bar high from the beginning, with a strong community vision statement for the site. We thank our lawyer, Marc Kemerer, for supporting our participation in the LPAT process, and the four volunteer expert witnesses who prepared statements and offered to testify on our behalf at the Tribunal. Finally, thanks are due to all of you, our neighbours, for your strong support, vocal enthusiasm, generous donations, participation in our surveys and summer leafletting, and ongoing advocacy for equitable development in our neighbourhood and beyond.

We are proud of our community’s insistence on equitable and inclusive urban development. Surely, though, such intense community efforts, shouldn’t be necessary to secure the benefits and housing we need. BBBD supports calls for a robust Inclusionary Zoning policy that would make these obligations clear, mandatory and permanent. And we are pleased that Councillor Bailão’s motion to initiate a secondary plan for the area was passed in January 2021. Legislating clearer rules for developers, so that they contribute to all elements of complete communities, is critical. We will be continuing to advocate for and support meaningful community engagement in the secondary plan process.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions, comments or would like to get involved in BBBD’s work.

Sincerely,

Build A Better Bloor Dufferin