Item - 2022.PH33.6

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in consultation with the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration and the President and Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, to undertake a community visioning and master planning exercise to support the future revitalization of the Dan Harrison Community Complex and improvements to the Dundas-Sherbourne neighbourhood, and report back to the Planning and Housing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2023 with the results of the visioning and master planning exercise.

2. City Council approve the Downtown East Housing Strategy Development Framework outlined in Attachment 1, and direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in collaboration with the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration and the President and Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, to undertake a robust stakeholder engagement process to develop the full Downtown East Housing Strategy, including engaging tenants, local residents, community agencies, healthcare providers, academic institutions, local religious institutions, the local Business Improvement Area and other orders of government, and to coordinate this work with the Dan Harrison Community Complex and Dundas-Sherbourne neighbourhood master planning and visioning exercise referred to in Recommendation 1 above, and report back to the Planning and Housing Committee with details by the fourth quarter of 2023.

3. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to allocate up to $200,000 in funding, inclusive of the Harmonized Sales Tax and disbursements, from the Capital Revolving Reserve Fund (XR1058) for the purpose of developing the Downtown East Housing Strategy Development Framework referred to in Recommendation 2 above.

4. City Council increase the Approved 2022 Operating Budget for Housing Secretariat, by $200,000 gross, $0 fully net funded from the Capital Revolving Reserve Fund for Affordable Housing (XR1058) to support the activities referred to in Recommendations 1 and 2 above.

5. City Council request the Board of Directors, CreateTO to direct the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, in consultation with the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the President and Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation to:

a. explore real estate opportunities for strategic city-building in the Dundas-Sherbourne neighbourhood, including completing feasibility analyses, and report to the Board of Directors, CreateTO with proposed sites; and

b. provide the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat with the list of sites and recommendations to activate the sites, to be included in the report to the Planning and Housing Committee referred to in Recommendations 1 and 2.

6. City Council request the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, to explore options to deliver at least 40 new units of supportive housing on the Housing Now Initiative site at 405 Sherbourne Street.

7. City Council direct the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration and the President and Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, to explore federal and provincial funding programs, as well as other partnership opportunities to support the a future revitalization of the Dan Harrison Community Complex and improvements to the wider Dundas-Sherbourne neighbourhood, including adding new affordable and supportive housing, and report back to the Planning and Housing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2023.

8. City Council request the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management to immediately resubmit their Letter of Intent with the same terms and to restart negotiation to purchase 214-230 Sherbourne Street in the event the previous agreement conditions are not waived.

9. City Council request the Chief Executive Officer, CreateTO, in consultation with the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to explore additional real estate opportunities for critical city-building initiatives including but not limited to the following sites:

a. 297 Jarvis Street, the Inglewood Arms rooming house;

b. 236 Sherbourne Street, strip mall and surface parking lot;

c. 387 Sherbourne Street; vacant apartment building; and

d. 110 Maitland Street, vacant apartment building.

Given the persistent, systemic and interconnected housing, health, social, economic and safety challenges faced by many residents of 251 Sherbourne Street ("Dan Harrison Community Complex") and the wider Dundas-Sherbourne community, on March 10, 2021, City Council adopted Item PH21.2 and directed the City, Toronto Community Housing ("TCHC")  and CreateTO staff to report back to the Planning and Housing Committee with a proposed plan to improve the built-form and the operations of the Dan Harrison Community Complex and to create new supportive housing opportunities to better meet the needs of existing and future residents. Through Item PH21.2, staff were also directed to examine opportunities to fund the acquisition of the properties at 214, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226 and 230 Sherbourne Street, should they become available for purchase.

In response to Council direction and in collaboration with City staff, City, Toronto Community Housing retained ERA Architects ("ERA") in July 2021, to undertake a feasibility study and explore revitalization options for improving the Dan Harrison Community Complex. This report provides an update on the feasibility work completed by ERA Architects, which recommends delivering a range of new housing (including a mix of supportive, affordable and market rental housing), as part of any future revitalization of the Dan Harrison Community Complex. It also recommends proceeding with a visioning and master planning exercise for the neighbourhood, beginning with in-depth resident and community consultations. This exercise will build upon ERA Architect's work to-date and previous feedback from City, Toronto Community Housing tenants and the wider community.

Further, in tandem with the master planning and visioning exercise, this report recommends Council approval of a specific Downtown East Housing Strategy Framework (Attachment 1) to ensure a full range of housing as part of any future revitalization. It also recommends next steps to develop the full Downtown East Housing Strategy, commencing with robust community and stakeholder engagement. The full Strategy, once developed, will support the City's pivot away from emergency shelters to more permanent housing solutions. It will also focus on creating a more mixed-income, inclusive and complete community with services and opportunities for a wide range of people to improve their housing, health and socio-economic outcomes. Additionally, the Strategy will support and complement the objectives of the wider Downtown East 5-Year Action Plan ("Downtown East Action Plan"). An update on the Downtown East Action Plan will be brought forward to the Economic and Community Development Committee in July 2022, and will provide an update on actions and initiatives in the neighbourhood.

This report also directs staff to explore opportunities to deliver at least 40 new supportive housing units as part of the Housing Now Initiative site at 405 Sherbourne Street, plus explore additional opportunities to deliver new affordable and supportive housing on other lands owned by the City and/or City-owned agencies, boards and corporations, and to report back to the Planning and Housing Committee in the fourth quarter of 2023. Lastly, this report provides an update on the City's efforts to secure the properties at 214, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226 and 230 Sherbourne Street for the development of affordable housing.