Update on Development of 30 St. Lawrence Street
as Housing for the Homeless
The Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee recommends the adoption of the following report
(October 13, 1998) from the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services:
Purpose:
To provide an update on progress to date in realizing this development which will provide permanent housing for 40
formerly homeless men and women, and to obtain authority for a further advance from a grant authorized by the Council
of the former City of Toronto.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
The recommended advance would come from previously authorized funds.
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services be authorized to advance a second
$40,000.00 of the approved grant monies from the Capital Leverage Fund to permit payment of costs incurred by the City
in retaining and stabilizing the west and north walls of the buildings being demolished on the site, as required by the
residents of the adjacent street.
Background:
The 30 St. Lawrence Street site has been owned for many years by the City of Toronto. Since 1982, Dixon Hall, a
multi-service community agency which provides a range of cultural, educational and social services, has managed an
emergency shelter for homeless men in a building on the street frontage, under contract to the City, and with staff funding
through Toronto Community Services. The building was not designed for this use and was inadequate in many ways. The
shelter was closed and vacated by July 1 to allow demolition and remediation to begin - the first step toward creating 40
units of new housing for formerly homeless men and women.
This will be the first long-term housing project for homeless people to be developed in the City since the cancellation of
the non-profit housing program by the Provincial Government in 1995. It is being developed by Dixon Neighbourhood
Homes (30 St. Lawrence Street) Inc. (DNHI), a subsidiary organization of Dixon Hall, with $400,000.00 in grant support
from the City's Capital Leverage Fund (CLF) and City-owned land conveyed to DNHI for a nominal sum. DNHI will
construct and manage ten four-bedroom townhouse units on the rear portion of the 30 St. Lawrence Street site. The units
would be affordable based on the shelter component of the existing social assistance programs. As the DNHI proposal
uses less than the full site area, the City will be able to offer the bulk of the street frontage for sale at a later date.
The Council of the former City of Toronto adopted Clause No. 34 of Report No. 21 of the Executive Committee at its
meeting on September 22 and 23, 1997, agreeing to convey the rear portion of the site to Dixon Neighbourhood Homes
(30 St. Lawrence Street) Inc., at nominal cost, subject to a number of conditions being fulfilled within nine months, i.e.,
by June 23, 1998. A subsequent report, Clause No. 6 of Report No. 7 of The Community and Neighbourhood Services
Committee, adopted by Council at its meeting on July 29, 30 and 31, 1998, outlined the progress to that point in time.
This report provides a further update.
Comments:
As site remediation is a precondition of CMHC providing mortgage insurance for DNHI's development, and as the
favourable price obtained through a tender several years ago expired on August 1, demolition and remediation
commenced on July 20, 1998. Funds for the demolition/remediation are coming from $190,000.00 in insurance settlement
monies received following an on-site fire several years ago, held for the account of this project, and $150,000.00 to be
advanced by the City from the Land Banking Fund, coming from monies received from the sale of sites declared surplus
after the Province's cancellation of the social housing programs.
An application to the Committee of Adjustment was necessary to amend a previously approved site-specific bylaw. This
resulted in concerns being expressed by the surrounding community about the proposed development. In particular, the
residents of a private street immediately west of the proposed development wanted to see the west and north walls of the
buildings on the 30St.Lawrence Street site retained to form a secure barrier between the two sites. Staff consulted with the
residents on several occasions to hear their concerns, to obtain their support for the project, and to avoid objections to the
Committee of Adjustment decision. As a result, instead of the total demolition of the existing structures, which had been
contemplated at the time of tender, the west and north walls had to be hand cut to a height acceptable to the adjacent
residents. The remaining walls, which were never designed to be free-standing, and which now function as a retaining
wall (grade being higher to the west and north than on the 30 St. Lawrence Street site), have to be braced with concrete
caissons and steel piles.
Dixon Neighbourhood Homes will make arrangements to have these additional costs included in their capital budget and
will pay the cost of this work which is, however, part of the contract between the City and the demolition/remediation
contractor and which exceeds the contingency available to the City. To do so, however, they require another advance of
$40,000.00 from the approved grant from the Capital Leverage Fund. The increased costs of demolition/remediation will
not adversely affect the project's ongoing viability.
The Council of the former City of Toronto granted $400,000.00 from the Capital Leverage Fund to DNHI to assist with
the capital costs of the development. This amount was subsequently confirmed through the budget process of the new
City. It was intended that these funds only be advanced after closing, and according to the progress of construction.
Closing will not occur, transferring title to the site to DNHI, until they have a satisfactory construction price and a
Building Permit. As the cutting of the wall and its bracing are part of the work currently underway on site to prepare the
property for the construction of the homeless housing, an advance of $40,000.00 from the previously approved grant
should be provided now.
Conclusion:
Funding reductions by senior levels of government combined with social and economic changes over the past decade have
created a larger and more vulnerable group of low-income people. The most visible aspect of this change is the more than
5,000 people in Toronto who are homeless and who sleep in hostels, stairwells, sidewalks and over subway air vents.
DNHI is pursuing an innovative development to house 40 formerly homeless men and women at 30St. Lawrence Street.
This is an important opportunity for the City to participate in the creation of an innovative project to provide permanent
housing for the homeless.
Contact name:
Joanne Campbell
Tel: 392-7885/Fax: 392-0548