City of Toronto & Kilmer-Tricon celebrate ground-breaking at first Housing Now site

Toronto’s first Housing Now development is officially under construction.

Located on City-owned land at 5207 Dundas Street West in Etobicoke, the project will deliver 725 new residential units, including 30 per cent affordable rental homes, 218 units, and 507 market rental homes upon completion. Designed by Henriquez Partners Architects, the development will feature two 29 and 25 storey towers, that will contain a mix of unit types ranging from one-bedroom to four-bedrooms, in addition to retail and public spaces for community gatherings and events. The development is located close proximity to Kipling Station in the rapidly growing Islington City Centre West.

In attendance at the ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony held on August 9, 2023, Mayor Olivia Chow was joined by Councillor Brad Bradford (Beaches-East York, Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee and CreateTO Board Director), Councillor Paula Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth, Board Director, CreateTO), Abi Bond (Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, City of Toronto), Gregg Lintern ( Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, City of Toronto), Vic Gupta (Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO), Ken Tanenbaum (Vice-Chairman, Kilmer Group) and Andrew Joyner (Managing Director, Tricon Residential).

“Building more affordable housing is critical to creating a city that's accessible and inclusive to everyone. The City is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing so that people of all different income levels and occupations can afford to live here. The City's Housing Now program is a great example of how strong partnerships between multiple levels of government, the private sector, the non-profit sector and the local community can help us build the housing we need.”, said Mayor Olivia Chow. “As the new Mayor, I've made building more affordable housing a top priority. I welcome other orders of government to partner with us as we endeavour to build even more affordable housing for the people of Toronto.”.

The City has partnered with CreateTO, Kilmer Group and Tricon Residential to support the delivery of the project as part of the Housing Now Initiative, which Toronto City Council approved in January 2019 to activate City-owned lands to stimulate the development of affordable rental housing within transit-oriented, mixed-income, mixed-use and complete communities.

“CreateTO strives to help solve some of the City’s biggest social and economic issues through bold and impactful real estate solutions and we are committed to helping provide much-needed affordable housing. I’m excited that construction has begun at the first block of the Bloor-Kipling site, and I’d like to thank all our partners for their hard work in helping us get to this point." , said Vic Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, "Collaboration from all levels of government and the private sector makes us stronger and the ability to deliver affordable housing easier. I’m looking forward to many more Housing-related groundbreakings.”.

“We are incredibly proud to partner with the City of Toronto to increase the supply of rental housing in North America’s fastest growing city and, in doing so, add much-needed affordable units within this complete community.", said Andrew Joyner, Managing Director, Tricon Residential, "The Kilmer-Tricon Partnership has a demonstrated track record of partnering with all three levels of government to deliver innovative large, scale mixed-income rental communities that strengthen the fabric of our City, and 5207 Dundas will make a positive and lasting impact on the heart of Etobicoke for generations to come.”.

“We are thrilled to celebrate this significant milestone alongside our partners, the City of Toronto, CreateTO and Tricon Residential." , said Ken Tanenbaum, Vice-Chairman, Kilmer Group, "Not only will this community deliver much-needed housing, it will also create an architectural landmark that all Torontonians will be proud of, thanks to exceptional designs by Henriquez Partners Architects, Smoke Architecture, and Claude Cormier et Associés. We’re grateful for the shared commitment by all our partners and consultants in delivering this transformative community.”.

Housing Now is an initiative to activate City-owned sites for the development of affordable housing within mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities. It is also a key housing supply program that supports the City’s 2020-2030 Action Plan target of 40,000 new affordable rental homes and Housing Action Plan 2022-2026 target of 285,000 homes by 2031.

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