Gorgeous Toronto rental proposal proves cheap homes can actually look good

The image in your mind’s eye of Toronto affordable housing buildings is probably one of run-down, dated-looking apartment towers. However, a new proposed development in midtown proves that it doesn’t have to be that way, calling for an affordable rental tower that reads visually like a luxury condo building.

An impressive 40-storey purpose-built rental apartment building is on tap for the Davisville area, boasting a bold design by architects gh3 that promises to become a new landmark for the neighbourhood.

Developer Collecdev Markee has filed plans seeking a zoning by-law amendment to permit its proposed redevelopment of a pair of properties at 267 and 275 Merton Street. The site is currently home to an underutilized two-storey Toronto Water office building and a single-detached home with a former auto repair shop at its rear.

Collecdev Markee has been advancing the project alongside the City in a Council-endorsed partnership, with the two entities working on a future agreement of purchase and sale that would see the City assume ownership of 267 Merton Street, with both properties then to be leased back to the developer on a 99-year term.

The project got its start back in September 2023, when Collecdev Markee approached the City and CreateTO with a pitch to redevelop the two properties with a mix of affordable and market units.

CreateTO and the developer entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent that same month with a mutual commitment to get housing built on this site.

The resulting plan for the site features a tower measuring 134.5 metres to the top of the mechanical penthouse, with punched windows in a house-form shape, Juliet balconies, and clad in a distinctive green exterior.

The plan calls for a total of 494 purpose-built rental units. Of this total, 30 per cent of the apartments, or 148 units, are planned to be provided as affordable rental units in perpetuity. 

The remaining 346 units will be rented out at market rates, which, for a new building in the in-demand midtown area, can fetch a pretty penny from renters.

At ground level, the proposal seeks to animate Merton Street with a 132-square-metre retail space at the northwest corner of the building. 

The retail component would front onto a proposed Privately Owned Publicly Accessible Space (POPS) measuring just over 380 square metres at the west end of the site, adding to a mid-block connection linking Merton Street and the Kay Gardner Beltline Trail to the south.

Following trends in developments near the TTC, the project would include a minimal parking component of just 22 spaces, with all parking to be reserved for visitors of the building and none provided for residents.

Residents would have access to the nearby Davisville subway station on the TTC’s Line 1, while the building is planned to host almost 500 bicycle parking spots on the ground floor and a mezzanine level for residents’ commuting needs.