Shovels are in the ground and a fundraising campaign is underway, all part of a unique housing project in London’s Old East Village aiming to build much-needed affordable homes for newcomers and low-income Londoners alike.
Once completed, the project being built at 763-773 Dundas St., the former site of the Old East 765 Bar and Grill, will add 247 new units to London’s housing stock, 102 of which will have below-market rents.
Though the project has a marked focus on supporting new immigrants to Canada and the city, it also seeks to ease some of the pressures many Londoners face from rising housing costs, said Valerian Marochko, executive director of the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre, a resettlement agency leading the project.
“We want all income levels to be able to use the project,” he said Wednesday. “Definitely newcomers, particularly refugees, will benefit from it but we also want young adults, people with disabilities, seniors. It’s newcomer-focused but with large eligibility.”
The development will be comprised of the following:
- A six-storey building fronting Dundas Street with 34 residential units and commercial space at street level
- A 24-storey tower with 213 units and multi-use space on the ground floor.
The units will be counted towards city hall’s target of creating 3,000 affordable housing units in the city.
“The idea is to have not only housing but also a community building space,” Marochko said.
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250-unit apartment project pitched for heart of Old East Village - Towers to townhouses, London home building is on a tear
Last year, Cross Cultural helped more than 300 newcomer families find homes in the city. It’s a task Marochko said has become increasingly challenging amid London’s housing affordability crisis, but one the project will help tackle head-on.
“Newcomers are very grateful to be here in Canada, and having a roof over the head of their families is a good guarantee that they can focus their energies on economic and social integration,” he said.
In total, the project will cost more than $100 million to complete. Though the majority of the money will come from a loan from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s affordable housing fund, Cross Cultural still needs to raise $2 million as part of the agreement with the federal agency.
Construction will take about three years, an extended timeline stemming from the need to build an underground parking on the site, Marochko said, adding he hopes the project will bring spinoff benefits to Old East.
“The Cross Cultural Learner Centre has been in the downtown and the Old East area for many, many years,” he said. “It’s a big challenge to work on such a big project, but we have a great team, and I’m very confident that this will benefit and will revitalize the community.”
To donate to the capital campaign, you can visit Cross Cultural’s website at www.lcclc.org.
