Affordable housing may rise on city-owned land in Hyde Park

City officials are eyeing vacant municipal land in Hyde Park for residential development, a strategy Londoners can expect to see more often as city hall attempts to reach its 47,000 residential unit goal by 2031, planners say.

Planners are accepting public feedback on the proposal to rezone city-owned land at 1364-1408 Hyde Park Rd. until Aug. 11, the first step toward a potential affordable housing development at the site.

“Cities across Ontario are looking at this kind of strategy,” said Jerzy Smolarek, partner and co-founder of Siv-ik Planning and Design, a private-sector designer working with city hall on the Hyde Park development.

“We have a housing shortage and an affordability crisis at the same time and so looking at what land the city owns and how they can find ways to contribute to getting more units built makes sense.”

City hall is looking to rezone the land to allow for the development of a 60-unit, six-storey apartment building and an 80-unit, seven-storey apartment building on the site near the Our London Family memorial on the southwest side of Hyde Park Road, south of South Carriage road.

The plan for the property also includes up to 17 townhouse units and two open spaces next to an existing park. The proposal is in keeping with the neighbourhood, Smolarek said, which already has townhouse development and a 12-storey apartment tower nearby.

Rezoning the land lays the groundwork for a future residential development, which may differ in exact specifications from what is being pitched now, Smolarek said.

“The idea here is to ready land that is city-owned, to allow for development of this scale and density,” he said.

Ontario is pushing to get 1.5 million homes built in the province and has given targets to municipalities to make it happen. In London, the goal is 47,000 residential units by 2031.

In a statement, city hall said the municipally owned parcel in Hyde Park is a perfect place for affordable units, and residential units in general, because of its access to parks and transportation and its proximity to a growing commercial district.

“City council’s roadmap to 3,000 affordable units encourages this approach to development projects,” municipal housing director Matt Feldberg said in a statement.

“The city is actively working to find lands in its complement that can be brought to a shovel-ready status, so private and non-profit sector partners can be found to build new affordable housing.”

In a push to create 3,000 affordable housing units, city hall has been looking for ways to turn underutilized municipal land into residential developments.

The city already has done that with parcels at 122 Baseline Rd. W. and 403 Thompson Rd., with construction underway at 345 Sylvan Ave., city hall said in a statement.

City hall also has an application under review for 1958 Duluth Cres., the former site of St. Roberts elementary school, where 300 units are being planned.

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