Cannect Homes announces eight-storey building with affordable rental units for Kingston Road site near Lee Avenue
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
Following a lengthy process to get shovels in the ground at a years-long empty construction site on the south side of Kingston Road just west of Lee Avenue, Cannect Homes has broken ground on a housing project expected to include affordable units costing less than half of Toronto’s average rental prices.
“As we embark on this journey to create affordable housing in the City of Toronto, at a time where things certainly started off very challenging, I am very excited,” said Marcus Tzaferis, Founder & CEO of Cannect, at a ceremony on Thursday, April 16, where he announced the new project.
After being passed on to Cannect from a previous developer, the empty site at 511 Kingston Rd. is now proposed to be an eight-storey, 90-unit purpose-built rental building featuring affordable and market-value rental units.
According to Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford, tenants living in the building’s affordable units will be paying as little as $600 per month for rent, just under half the city’s average cost for a bachelor/studio apartment, which currently stands at $1,499 as of this year.
“When I say affordable, that means 600 bucks a month for rent,” said Bradford at last Thursday’s ceremony. “It’s been a long time in Toronto since you’ve been able to have a high-quality, brand-new apartment for 600 bucks a month rent.”
Bradford and the development team said securing affordable units was made possible through several programs, as well as partnerships at the provincial and federal level.
“Working with Marcus, we were able to navigate the city bureaucracy. We were able to push hard to secure funding through the city’s rental housing supply program,” said Bradford. “Between the city of Toronto, competent builders, people who can do the financing, stacking up the programs – that’s how you do it.”
Working in collaboration with organizations such as Neighbours, Streetcar Developments, and HousingNowTo – and receiving a $7.8 million capital investment from the City of Toronto – the development project is expected to contribute 30 affordable units to East Toronto’s housing market.
During his speech, Bradford said delays in development were the result of the previous developer’s inability to complete the project.
“Halfway through 2023, the builder fell on hard times, very emblematic of what we’re seeing right now in Toronto’s market,” said Bradford. “The work stopped, they removed the equipment, and what they left us with was this massive hole in the ground.”
The first zoning bylaw application to redevelop the 507-511 Kingston Rd. site was submitted more than nine years ago, in December of 2016.
By early to mid 2024, the existing buildings on site were torn down and the slope was dug out before work came to a halt on The Condoman Development’s The View project on the site. According to a previous statement from Bradford’s office, the zoning bylaw amendment to build an eight-storey residential building on site was approved by Toronto Council in July 2024.
However, for the last two years, residents have been left with unfavourable views of an empty pit with metal framing and sand, resting at the bottom of a 9.5 metre (just over 31 feet) drop from the end of Wheeler Avenue at the south end up to Kingston Road at the north end.
Tzaferis said Cannect Homes – who originally served as a private money lender for the development – has now assumed the leading role to ensure the project’s completion.
“It was left to us to make a decision: whether we were also going to walk away, or roll up our sleeves and finish it,” said Tzaferis. “We probably would have been OK to just walk from this. But because I have the support of my investors and my team, we decided to try to do something challenging.”
He said the project transitioned from a condominium to rental project due to both market changes and a lack of demand for condominiums in the area.
“This area doesn’t really need condos; it really needs some affordable housing. Even the 60 market rental units are really required in this area,” said Tzaferis.
After years of uncertainty at 511 Kingston Rd., he apologized to residents who have been left questioning when construction would eventually begin at the site.
“I apologize to all the people that live here,” said Tzaferis. “All these things, all these little changes help us build a better city, it just takes a little bit of work.”
