If there’s one thing we’ve heard from our political class non-stop in this country is the need for so-called “affordable housing” to situate all the migrants our prime minister has allowed into Canada.
It is a narrative I’ve heard at Toronto City Hall for 20 years ever since Mayor Olivia Chow’s late hubby and former NDP leader Jack Layton took it upon himself to make hay with the homeless cause.
As I’ve found repeatedly, so-called “affordable housing” managed by the city is damn expensive and takes forever to build.
If the political class had found alternatives (including stopping the flow of migrants into the city) instead of throwing money at the problem with little oversight, we wouldn’t be in the desperate situation Chow has claimed we are.
Not surprisingly last week, Chow announced a so-called affordable housing development with no firm idea as to the costs and as yet very little funding to carry it out.
But she claimed, according to reports, that construction will start this fall — because of the city’s desperate housing situation, she must move forward anyway.
I’m not sure how she’ll do that.
If the city would pull back on its Sanctuary City status, things might not be so desperate.
But as I learned way back when her late hubby was alive, socialists love to keep the homeless in the spotlight as a way of pressuring the higher levels of government for more money for their expensive housing agenda.
Chow held a photo opp in a parking lot in Kensington Market right around the corner from an encampment full of drug addicts she has allowed to get out of control in Bellevue Square park.
This affordable housing project contains 78 units — studios and one-bedroom apartments that will be offered as rent-geared-to income homes.
The tenants selected will pay no more than 30% of their income or social assistance for rent — meaning this will be highly subsidized once it is operating, in addition to the build itself.
Chow introduced the usual suspect agencies that will operate the project but said precious little about the funding.
That’s because she either didn’t know or didn’t care.
My bet is both.
It took some effort to get at least some of the costs from city officials.
Let’s start with the location.
The units will be built on a Green P parking lot which is still operating and took in $654,605 in revenue in 2023 according to city officials.
That’s a lost opportunity cost.
The land on which the parking lot sits will be donated to the project, along with waived development fees, at a value of $3.6-million.
I might note that this project has been in the works since July 2020 when Chow’s stepson Mike Layton moved to declare the parking lot surplus. A plan was to be created by the end of 2020.
Fast forward to four years later.
I asked twice for the actual cost to build the project. I was told first that the budget will go to council for approval in the fall.
When I asked again, I was told Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will be announcing the funds “in the near future.”
Reportedly, the city is looking for $28.7-million.
Conservatively that means the cost to build will reach at least $31.6-million or an obscene $405,128 per unit.
But it doesn’t stop there.
The $2.3-million cash injection yearly the city is looking for from the province to operate the housing project plus the lost revenue of $654,605 means this project will cost taxpayers $3-million to oversee the 78 units.
That’s $34,461 per unit.
These not-so “affordable housing” projects never make economic sense.
For $405,128 per unit, the city could buy each tenant a 500-square foot condo and eliminate the opportunity for one of the usual suspect agencies to empire build.
But this is what it is all about.
It’s not about finding homes for tenants or the homeless.
If politicians like Chow really cared— if there was such a desperate need— they would find homes in a timely and cost-efficient manner.
They wouldn’t leave drug addicts lying in their own excrement and urine in encampments in public parks.
They wouldn’t let more migrants clog the city’s shelter system.
That’s not humane.
These tactics are tired and are the same old, same old refrain that we’ve heard for 20 years.
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