#29

1. Toronto is making some progress on updating its land-use rules to allow for more midrise housing development. That progress has been very slow, with simple processes being broken up into multiple work streams, each with its own unreasonable set of consultation requirements and votes in the Planning and Housing Committee and in Council, but it has nevertheless been positive.
   
   Of note, pending an ongoing OLT appeal, developers can now take proposals for 6-storey apartment buildings with up to 60 units along Major Streets through a relatively straightforward approvals process.
   
   There is also an ongoing study to expand the city’s Avenues, where development of larger midrise buildings of up to 11 storeys is permitted, to cover more streets. Council voted to approve this new Urban Structure map with expanded Avenues last night and to direct Planning staff to now prepare Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw Amendments to redesginate and rezone those new and expanded Avenues for development.
   
   Finally, the Midrise Building Design Guidelines were updated as of December 2024 to allow for simpler, boxier built forms, moving away from the old ridiculous rear transition rules that generated stepbacks at every floor, for designs that were ultimately much harder to build and insulate cost-effectively.
   
   This is all good. But it’s also not nearly enough if, as new Chief Planner Jason Thorne has recently said, we want “midrise housing to do a lot of heavy lifting for new housing supply”.
   
   For that to happen, we’re going to need to move much more quickly on those redesignations and rezonings of the expanded Avenues, we’re going to have to radically reduce if not eliminate the front and side yard setback requirements embedded in the Major Streets policy, and we’re going to have to take a serious look at rental replacement requirements, “type g” loading space requirements, and amenity space requirements, all of which can kill the viability of the marginal project.
   
   A friend noted that this newfound enthusiasm for midrise housing development mirrors similar enthusiasm among Council and Planning staff in 2008, and that we actually haven’t built much mirdise housing since 2008. Getting the details right really matters here, and many of these details are politically sensitive.
   

2. We’ve got two midrise proposals of our own at Toronto Standard. One leans into the new Major Streets policy, the other into the expanded Avenues permissions.
   
   We’d like to do more.
   
   We’ve been exploring a new model where we partner with (usually commercial) land owners; they roll in their properties as equity in a new midrise development, we manage the development from design through approvals, construction, occupancy, and lease-up, and we take a minority stake in the property at occupancy. Net of our fees and participation, this can typically generate a 100-150% equity value lift for those land owners that are willing to ride along for the 36-42 month development cycle.
   
   If you’re a land owner or a real estate agent representing an owner along a Major Street or Avenue, this might be a good option to explore. Shoot me an email if you’d like to learn more.
   

3. The 2025 Missing Middle Summit is scheduled for May 21st at the Toronto Reference Library Bram and Bluma Appel Salon.

   

   Now in its third year, this event has really become the annual gathering point for this emerging industry of missing middle developers. There’s a tonne of excitement and energy around these new housing typologies that are finally being legalized, if imperfectly, through the City’s Exploring Housing Options in Neighbourhoods program.
   
   I find myself being less and less interested in industry events, but this one is special, and not just because I’m hosting it.