Concerns raised by residents over Regent Park redevelopment plans
Posted July 21, 2023 9:41 pm.
The distinct red brick three-storey walk-ups that have been part of the fabric of Regent Park since the 1950s are soon going to be replaced by brand new buildings as part of redevelopment plans south of Gerrard Street that were approved by City Hall this past week. While more affordable housing will be in the mix, those who currently call the area home are worried what’s to come doesn’t fulfill their needs.
“I’m wondering who they’re building housing for,” asks Walied Khogali of the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association. “Are they building it for those that are the 80,000 on the waiting list for Toronto community housing or are they building it for folks who have a lot more disposable income and are trying to enter the housing market or trying to get more affordable rentals?”
Over the last 15 years, Regent Park has seen plenty of change with taller residential towers being built with a mix of condos and social housing. The latest plan includes more than a dozen buildings up to 39 storeys which will replace the existing 188 apartments while adding more than 600 units, which will be maintained as social housing for at least 40 years.
Part of the Regent Park redevelopment plan. CITYNEWS
“The City and Toronto community housing has partnered with an organization like Tridel on this who have done Alexandra Park, are doing one of the Housing Now sites. These are people that have experience in the real world understanding of how to make the math work on a site like this in 2023,” said Mark Richardson of HousingNowTO.
While more community space, a central plaza and new retail along Gerrard Street are planned, the local neighbourhood association believes more space could have been created for future needs. They were also hoping affordable housing, in this case, would be defined by income rather than below market-based rates.
“Did the community get everything it wanted? Probably not,” acknowledged Toronto Centre Coun. Chris Moise. “But I worked really hard to make sure I really went far and deep in actually making sure that I sat with each individual and each community group to ask them what it is that they want.”
Tenants living in the buildings now started to receive notification from Toronto Community Housing for relocation last year and have started to move out ahead of demolition.
