Item - 2022.RA29.2

The Board of Directors of CreateTO:

1. Directed the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO to report back to the next CreateTO Board meeting with an update on the approach used to establish a successful Community Benefits Plan for the Housing Now sites. The update should include a review of future Housing Now sites that have not yet gone to market with a plan to include Community Benefits requirements within the Request for Proposals. 

2.  Directed that the identity of the final selected proponent for 140 Merton Street be made public after the final agreements are executed, at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, and the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat.

3.  Directed that the remainder of the information in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (February 21, 2022) from the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO remain confidential as it relates to a proposed or pending disposition of land by the Board of Directors of CreateTO and the City, contains financial information supplied in confidence to the CreateTO Board which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a number of organizations, and relates to a position, plan or instruction to be applied to negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the Board of Directors of CreateTO and the City.

The Vice President, Development, CreateTO provided an update on Housing Now Progress.

On January 30, 2019, City Council approved a signature affordable housing program, the "Housing Now Initiative," to leverage City-owned land for the purpose of creating new, mixed-use, mixed-income communities near transit. Through the Initiative, 11 properties were initially identified for development, with the potential to create a total of 10,000 new residential units.

On May 28, 2020, Council approved the addition of six more sites to the Housing Now Initiative with the potential to create 1,455 to 1,700 additional residential units.

On October 28, 2021 Planning and Housing Committee endorsed four Phase Three sites which were endorsed by Council on November 9th and 10th. These sites are estimated to add between 1,150 and 1,400 net new homes, including between 450 to 600 affordable rental homes. The Housing Now Initiative is coordinated through a Steering Committee composed of senior staff from the Housing Secretariat, City Planning and CreateTO.

The purpose of this report is to provide the CreateTO Board of Directors with a broad status update on the progress made to-date on activating the 21 properties.