When the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust incorporated in 2014, its mission was simple: acquire and preserve existing at-risk rental housing.
Now, the scrappy community group is taking its first crack at development in the form of an affordable highrise building in Toronto’s west-end.
“This isn’t just another condo building,” says Joshua Barndt, the land trust’s senior manager of development strategy. “It’s going to be a place where Parkdalians can gather.”
Last month, the City of Toronto announced the selection of the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust (PNLT) to develop and lease a 175-unit, 16-storey affordable housing project on Queen Street West, to be dubbed Parkdale People’s Place.
In a departure from its original strategy of rental preservation, the land trust was heavily involved in the design of the new building that features 23,000 square feet of community space and larger family units. This was a key focus for PNLT after their 2022 study found nearly 40 per cent of Parkdale tenants were living in overcrowded conditions.
Of the 175 units, 88 will be permanently affordable, 78 rent-controlled, and nine rental replacements.
Proposed partners for tenant referral include Anishnawbe Health Toronto, the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario, the Rwandan Community Healing Centre, Community Living Toronto, FCJ Refugee Centre, Fred Victor, and Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre.
In partnership with affordable housing provider St Clare’s Housing, the new homes will be part of a multi-phase project of the Parkdale Hub through CreateTO, a city agency that manages its real estate assets.
Future phases will revitalize an existing library and community centre at the corner of Queen Street West and Cowan Avenue.
PNLT has already been experimenting with smaller property development, including a renovation and addition on a five-bedroom home in Dufferin Grove to convert it into a 10-unit apartment building.
But constructing something from the ground up, says Barndt, is more complicated.
“It involves accessing vacant land, going through a robust planning process, and then securing all the funding and financing required for a very expensive project.”
Barndt says the project has secured 40 per cent of funding via donors, fundraising and a commitment from the city. They hope to secure the remaining funds from Build Canada Homes, the federal government’s housing initiative.
The project is expected to break ground in a year, following a process that he says began more than eight years ago.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing that it took a while,” says Barndt. “It means that there was an effective process where people were consulted.”
While locals often voice opposition to proposals for luxury buildings, Barndt says, the community is not antidevelopment. An unexpected outcome of the community consultations was residents advocating for an even taller building than initially planned.
“We’re not saying ‘no’ to development, we’re saying ‘yes’ to development, but it needs to meet community needs.”
One of those needs was for larger apartments — almost half of the units will be family-size, including 27 three-bedroom and 56 two-bedroom units.
According to CMHC data from 2024, just 2.5 per cent of the rental units in South Parkdale have three or more bedrooms, compared to 8.4 per cent citywide.
When Parkdale resident Sonam Yangzom moved to Toronto in 2008 from a Tibetan refugee resettlement village in India, she couldn’t find any three-bedroom apartments in the neighbourhood.
She currently lives in a two-bedroom unit with five family members spanning three generations. For Yangzom, living in a multi-generational home is a “blessing,” but some in her family have suggested they look for a larger apartment.
“We don’t want to move out of Parkdale now. We have found a home here,” says Yangzom, who runs a small business with her husband in the area. “Having three-bedroom units in the Hub will be very helpful for so many families, especially those in our community who traditionally live in a joint family setting.”
After decades of Toronto only delivering affordable housing in the form of tiny studio apartments, Barndt says building family-sized units was a priority.
“We want communities where families can live and children can grow up, no matter what their household income is.”
