Feds provide $67M for Scarborough, Tecumseh, Belleville affordable housing projects
The federal government has announced loans worth more than $90 million to support the construction of affordable rental housing units in Scarborough, Tecumseh and Belleville.
In Scarborough, the government provided a low-cost loan of $42 million to help build a new residential property on Thunder Grove Road.
Ridgeford Place, by the Ridgeford Charitable Foundation, is a 12-storey residential building that is providing Scarborough North with 186 new units of much needed rental housing close to public transit, schools and services for families.
The project is designed to achieve energy efficiency savings of 16.6 percent and greenhouse gas emission reductions of 26.4 percent, relative to the requirements of the 2015 National Energy Code for Buildings. Twenty-seven of its units will be accessible.
“Increasing the supply of affordable rental housing has been a top priority for me,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “We have set ambitious goals for our city in our housing plan. This new project in partnership with the federal government allows us to continue moving forward in meeting these goals and ensuring that every resident in our city has a roof over their head.”
In Tecumseh, the government provided an insured loan of $25.27 million to help build 99 rental units.
The units are part of a new project, titled Tecumseh Gateway Tower, and is located at 11870 Tecumseh Road East. The project includes a six-storey multi-residential building with a gym and an outdoor landscaped area. At least 31 of the units will have rents affordable at or below 30 percent of the local household median income.
"I am incredibly thrilled to be bringing this purpose rental project to The Town of Tecumseh,” said Peter Valente, President, Gateway Tower Inc. “We have many projects we are working on, but I am very proud to be part of this project to serve a need for more affordable housing product in Windsor & Essex County."
Finally, in Belleville, the federal government announced $23 million in funding for construction of a residential building on Station Street.
Developed by KGF Capital Realty, the Magnolia Garden Residence is a six-storey residential building that will provide Belleville with 103 new units of housing close to public transit, schools and family services.
All three projects received funding through CMHC's Rental Construction Financing initiative (RCFi), a National Housing Strategy program that supports rental housing construction projects to encourage a stable supply of rental housing for middle-class families in expensive housing markets. The federal government aims to use the RCFi to encourage the construction of more than 71,000 new rental-housing units.