Item - 2017.AH8.4

The Affordable Housing Committee recommends to the Executive Committee that:

1. City Council authorize that the affordable housing to be constructed on the land now known as Blocks 8/20 and Blocks 3W, 4W and 7W in the West Don Lands and 27 Grosvenor/26 Grenville Streets, Toronto be exempt from the payment of development charges, building, planning and parkland dedication fees and charges.

2. City Council authorize an exemption from taxation for municipal and school purposes for the affordable housing to be constructed on the land now known as Blocks 8/20 and Blocks 3W, 4W and 7W in the West Don Lands and 26 Grosvenor/26 Grenville Streets, Toronto for the periods of affordability for each of the of time described in the chart in the Financial Impact section of this Report.

3.  City Council authorize City staff to cancel or refund any taxes paid after the effective date of the municipal capital facility agreement.

4. City Council authorize the Director, Affordable Housing Office, to negotiate and enter into, on behalf of the City, a municipal housing facility agreement, with the developers chosen through the broker led offering process for the development of the affordable housing to be constructed on the land now known as Blocks 8/20 and Blocks 3W/4W and 7W in the West Don Lands and 27 Grosvenor/26 Grenville Streets, Toronto, or related corporations to secure the financial assistance being provided through the Open Door Program, setting out the terms of the operation of the new affordable rental housing, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Director, Affordable Housing Office, in consultation with the Deputy City Manager, Chief Financial Officer and General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, and in a form approved by the City Solicitor.

5. City Council authorize the Director, Affordable Housing Office, to execute, on behalf of the City, the municipal housing facility agreement, any security or financing documents or any other documents required to facilitate the funding process, including any documents required by the applicants, or their related corporations to complete construction and conventional financing, where required.

6. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to execute, postpone, confirm the status of, and discharge any City security documents registered as required by normal business practices.

7. City Council request the Director, Affordable Housing Office to report to the Affordable Housing Committee in 2019 on the results of the first phase of the Provincial Land Program in Toronto.

8.  City Council request the Director of the Affordable Housing Office to engage the non-profit and co-operative sectors to include their participation in the current provincial land program.

This report recommends that City Council approve proceeding with a unique opportunity to work with the Ontario Government as part of the development of Phase One of the Provincial Affordable Housing Lands Program, which will provide up to 600 much needed new affordable rental homes for Toronto residents.

The Ontario Government, as part of its Fair Housing Plan, has established a program to leverage provincial land assets to develop a mix of market housing and new, permanent, sustainable and affordable housing across the province.

The first phase of the provincial land program includes up to eight acres of land in the West Don Lands (Blocks 8/20 and 3W, 4W and 7W) and about one acre of land at 27 Grosvenor/26 Grenville Streets in Toronto. Thirty per cent of the residential Gross Floor Area (GFA) in these sites will be allocated to affordable rental housing which is estimated to create up to 600 affordable rental homes.

This fall, Infrastructure Ontario on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Infrastructure, through a broker-led process, will issue an offering of these prime downtown residential sites to private and not-for-profit organizations to develop approximately 2,000 market and affordable rental homes for Torontonians.

As the Phase One projects are in the pre-development stages and there is an interest in pre-planning the affordable components of the developments, this report recommends that the City pre-approve the Open Door Program's financial incentives to support the construction and operation of the new rental housing. It also recommends that City staff report to the Affordable Housing Committee In 2019 on the results of the first phase of the Provincial Land Program.

Open Door is a five-year initiative approved by City Council in July 2016.  The program is designed to complement federal/provincial affordable housing initiatives and scale up

City efforts to achieve Toronto’s targets of creating 5,000 affordable rental homes and 2,000 affordable ownership opportunities for low-and moderate-income residents by 2020.