Affordable housing towers need one add-on – a community center: Councilor

Twin towers of affordable housing may rise in northwest London’s Hyde Park neighborhood and the only thing that could make it better is to add a community center to the build, said the politician representing the area.

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The two highrise buildings with 140 apartment units and an additional 17 townhouses may go up at 1364-1408 Hyde Park Rd., but the area badly needs recreational space as well, said Ward 7 Coun. Corrine Rahman.

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She envisions a mixed-use development with both housing and recreation on site and will raise the issue at city council Tuesday, after it failed to get traction at a recent city committee meeting.

“We have such a need for community meeting space and recreational space and this is an opportunity,” said Rahman. “This is a prime (city-owned) piece of land in the northwest. Where else will we go to look for a community center?”

The proposed 157 units will rent for 80 per cent of market rates. The development was approved at a recent planning and environment committee meeting but is up for a final decision at council.

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Rahman pushed at the committee meeting for an amendment that would approve rezoning for the residential development while also studying it for possible recreational use.

That amendment failed to get support as other politicians want to move quickly with housing construction fearing a recreational study will slow the build, and other sites in the area already may be under consideration, the committee heard.

“I wanted them to go ahead and rezone, but just keep in mind possible other use,” Rahman said.

The site is similar in size to existing community center developments in the city, she said.

“We do not have a lot of city owned lands in the northwest. When we are looking for potential recreational lands we have to consider lands available to us and consider mixed use of affordable housing and community spaces.”

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At the committee meeting, staff reported a recreational master plan that identified sites for possible recreational use did not identify the Hyde Park road location.

It was brought forward “strictly for affordable housing,” city staff reported.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis added the city is “considering six or seven” sites for recreation in the northwest but the funding is not yet in place. He also questioned whether the site was large enough for both uses.

“We do not want to hold up affordable housing. . . We have to move forward with this and there are other sites being considered for community centers,” said Lewis.

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The city recently received a pledge of $74 million from the federal government to build more than 2,000 affordable housing units and needs to move quickly on that commitment, said Ward 8 Coun. Steve Lehman, chair of the planning committee,

“Given the huge announcement we have now and the emphasis on affordable housing, it is hard to delay,” he said.

The site is 1.35 hectares and is vacant. One of the buildings will have 60 units and the other will have 80 units. The townhouses will be two storeys.

Lands to the south and west will be preserved as open space in the long-term, serving as a neighborhood park. A stream in the southwest corner of the site will also be protected.

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