CEO of Habitat for Humanity Toronto, Neil Hetherington, believes that the new building project at 4275 Kingston Rd. will have a positive impact on the community.
The property at Kingston Road and Fairwood Crescent was originally the site of Millie’s Billiards. Habitat purchased the acre of land last April and have plans to build 29 townhouses on it.
Residents were initially concerned about density, height, traffic, parking, construction, and that the development will lower the property value of their homes.
Kingston Galloway has the highest concentration of social housing in the city however, Hetherington noted the distinction between community housing and Habitat for Humanity.
“People always say there’s a lot of community housing and to that I say that’s why you need Habitat. Because Habitat is not community housing, the two are very different.”
Hetherington said that the project will help the community rather than cause harm.
“Look at what Habitat has done in the past,” said Hetherington, referring to other building projects in the area.
Habitat is no stranger to the neighbourhood. The development at 4200 Kingston Rd. was Habitat’s first energy efficient build that saw the construction of 19 townhouses on what was a vacant lot for decades. Habitat is also responsible for the 4277 Lawrence Ave. E. 14-unit townhouse development.
After community meetings, a work group was created consisting of six residents of the community, and representatives from the city’s planning department and Habitat.
“We worked with the community staff and came up with a workable solution,” said Hetherington, who was pleased that Habitat was able to work with the community.
The groundbreaking ceremony is to take place in March and construction will start in September.