Item - 2022.PH35.17

The Planning and Housing Committee:

1. Requested the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure and Development Services, in consultation with the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat to:

a. report on the framework for the Business and Implementation Plan for Villiers Island and the pathway to achieve the affordable Housing mandate to the Planning and Housing Committee meeting in 2023;

b. determine if any changes need to be made to the Villiers Island Precinct Plan to achieve the City’s housing goals; and

c. report out the current level of Affordable Housing secured by Waterfront Toronto in the Central Waterfront and East Bayfront, West Donlands and the timing and targets for areas not yet under development.

This report aims to address the November 2021 City Council direction for a status update on the work underway to achieve additional affordable housing in Villiers Island. This staff report outlines how the City of Toronto, CreateTO, and Waterfront Toronto staff are developing an affordable housing strategy that will maximize housing options in Villiers Island to deliver a complete, sustainable, and mixed-use community.

Over the past two decades waterfront revitalization, facilitated by the three levels of government through Waterfront Toronto, has produced new complete communities on underused and contaminated industrial land. Planning and delivering the necessary hard infrastructure, public facilities, and services to support new neighbourhoods has required significant and coordinated long-term investments from all levels of government.

A sufficient number of perpetually affordable rental homes at a sufficient level of affordability is crucial to supporting the vision of complete communities in Toronto’s Designated Waterfront Area. The Designated Waterfront Area stretches from Dowling Avenue in the west to Coxwell Avenue in the east. It includes Exhibition Place, Ontario Place, the Central Waterfront, East Bayfront, the West Don Lands, and the Port Lands (see map Figure 1). Since 2003, approximately 1,400 affordable housing units have been built or are under construction in the Designated Waterfront Area. An estimated 1,900 units of affordable rental housing are in the development pipeline.

Villiers Island is the first opportunity to build a new mixed-use community in Toronto's Port Lands. The roughly 20-hectare (50 acres) area will become available for planned development following the completion of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project in 2024. The City of Toronto, CreateTO, Ports Toronto and Waterfront Toronto own much of the developable land on Villiers Island.

The Council-adopted Port Lands Planning Framework (the Planning Framework), Villiers Island Precinct Plan (the Precinct Plan), and Port Lands Official Plan Modification (OPM) will guide the community's development. These documents identify permissible residential, commercial, catalytic and community uses and key City-building objectives.

A key principle of the Precinct Plan is to create permanent and long-term affordable rental homes. The Precinct Plan recommends that affordable housing constitutes a minimum of 20% of the total residential floor area on publicly owned lands and, depending on the delivery model, between 10% and 20% on private lands. The target was estimated to deliver about 835 to 882 affordable housing units on public and private land.

The Planning Framework also provides direction in Section 4.5.8. for City staff and Waterfront Toronto to "investigate opportunities to achieve additional affordable housing in Villiers Island, over and above the minimum requirements in this Framework, potentially in the form of co-operative housing, rent-geared-to-income housing and mid-range rental housing, addressing the financial resources required and potential sources of financial support (pg. 220)."

Since City Council endorsed the Planning Framework and Precinct Plan in 2017, it has taken urgent action to provide more affordable rental housing in Toronto:

• In December 2019, City Council adopted the "HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan" to guide the City's efforts to address housing and homelessness needs over the next ten years;
  
  
• In January 2019, City Council approved the Housing Now Initiative to use City-owned lands to support affordable rental housing development within transit-oriented, mixed-income, mixed-use, complete communities; and
  
  
• In August 2020, City Council adopted the "Housing and People Action Plan." The plan identified immediate actions to accelerate and expand funding and the supply of rental housing through policy and financial tools.

The City, CreateTO, and Waterfront Toronto are committed to responding to the urgent priorities identified in these Action Plans. The City, CreateTO, and Waterfront Toronto are developing strategies consistent with the existing Planning Framework to maximize housing options on Villiers Island and to deliver a complete community that provides a diverse range of homes for Torontonians and allows people to thrive.

Affordable Housing Strategies

Like new communities in the West Don Lands, East Bayfront, and Lower Yonge, Villiers Island will be developed over many years in multiple phases. Enabling this development requires investments in municipal services, infrastructure, soil remediation, the public realm, and affordable housing.

When fully built out, Villiers Island will have a minimum of 20% and a target of 30% of units as permanently affordable housing on public lands. To plan and prepare for these investments and the long-term development program for Villiers Island, Waterfront Toronto, working with CreateTO and City staff, is developing a Business and Implementation Plan. City staff will report on this plan to City Council in the first half of 2023 and CreateTO staff will report to the CreateTO Board of Directors. The affordable housing strategy for Villiers Island will:

• Include a minimum of 20% and a target of 30% affordable rental homes on public lands, secured for 99 years or longer, aligned with the City's new income-based definition of affordability;
  
  
• Include a mix of unit types and sizes, with at least 20% of homes designed with accessibly features;
  
  
• Explore non-profit partnerships, including non-profit management of affordable housing, especially Indigenous-led housing organizations and other organizations who support equity deserving groups; and
  
  
• Leverage the unique tri-government partnerships and governance structure to secure financing and equity funding from all orders of government to effectively deliver the affordable housing.

Several delivery models are under consideration to achieve these objectives. Possible models include: providing land for affordable housing development by non-profit organizations; long-term lease of completed units to non-profit organizations; and private and non-profit development partnerships.

City, CreateTO, and Waterfront Toronto staff will advance work in 2022 to assess these delivery models. These models will be evaluated based on several factors, including the length of time before housing is delivered and the level of funding required.

Work will include undertaking market soundings with non-profit housing providers, exploring Indigenous-led housing solutions and partnerships with Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation, aligning priorities with other orders of government, and identifying funding opportunities. This research and engagement will inform financial modelling, a phasing strategy, enabling infrastructure programs, and the ultimate funding approach.

City, CreateTO, and Waterfront Toronto staff are developing a strategy to deliver more affordable housing and the necessary infrastructure and public realm to support the Villiers Island community. Continued tri-government investment in waterfront revitalization and innovative partnerships will be essential to advancing Villiers Island's vision and maximizing housing options.