A piece of the urban puzzle is being reconstructed in Parkdale, in Toronto's west end. Twelve years after a fatal fire, the apartments at 194 Dowling Ave will be resurrected as a 29-unit supportive housing building. The Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC) will administer the apartments, known as Edmond Place, to provide appropriate housing for persons with mental health and addiction challenges.
The city, which exercised its rarely used expropriation powers to acquire the building, will benefit from its retention in the public sphere. The building, which is designated as a heritage property, is not only appropriately scaled to the neighbourhood, but is an excellent example of an Edwardian walk-up apartment. And unlike the long and costly battles that have marked the redevelopment of other heritage properties, Edmond Place's rebirth from the ashes of tragedy is exemplar of the benefits of cooperative development between municipalities and non-profit interest groups.
Although Parkdale has thus far avoided the condo boom of the neighbouring Queen West Triangle, its housing market is as overheated as anywhere in the city, and it seems miraculous that the property sat unrestored and undeveloped as long as it did. The project certainly had no shortage of detractors who felt that Parkdale was amply served by rooming houses and inexpensive rental accommodation, and that new stock was not required. Such projects, it was suggested, reduce neighbourhood safety while tempering property values. However, as the area has become increasingly gentrified, the housing options for current low-income residents, to say nothing of newcomers, is jeopardized: Parkdale's population has declined over the last census period, a trend that may be attributed to multi-family houses that have been reconverted into single-family dwellings.
Those who fret about property values would do well to remember that housing prices have risen sharply in the past decade, in spite of the presence of rooming houses, poorly maintained rental housing and drug dens. Such living arrangements and their residents have long peopled the streets of Parkdale, and the Edmond Place project will make the area safer by providing a secure, affordable and most of all, supportive housing option for at-risk individuals who would otherwise have little hope of being integrated meaningfully into the community.
Edmond Place represents a fine example of local stewardship of a heritage property that preserves the streetscape while providing a much needed service. This city has no shortage of condominium developments that are materially and physically disconnected from the surrounding neighbourhood, the construction of which were preceded by months or years of legal wrangling, local opposition and much bitter resentment. Detractors of the project at 194 Dowling might also ask themselves what compromise the city would be forced to make in the form of extra height and density in exchange for the building's preservation, and what effect this would have on the neighbourhood. Considered in this light, Edmond Place should be chalked up as a win for everyone in Parkdale.
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