If approved, development would see a new three-storey, 21-unit apartment building and an existing home converted into a triplex
The city has received an application for a new apartment building on Speedvale Avenue.
However, it would see people living in a more communal sense than a traditional home.
Under the proposal, the existing homes at 205, 207 and 211 Speedvale Ave. E. – just west of Delhi Street – would be torn down. In their place would be a three-storey, 21-unit apartment building.
The home at 213 Speedvale Ave. E. would remain, but would be converted into a three-unit building.
What makes this development different is that the property owners are looking to turn it into a co-housing project.
According to the Canadian Co-Housing Network (CCN), co-housing “describes neighbourhoods that combine the autonomy of private dwellings with the advantages of shared resources and community living.”
In such projects, residents typically own their own home, which are then clustered around a central home that has shared amenities.
“Cohousing residents participate in the planning, design, ongoing management and maintenance of their community, meeting frequently to address each of these processes,” a post on the CCN website reads.
“Cohousing neighbourhoods tend to offer environmentally-sensitive design, with a pedestrian orientation. Typically they range from 10-35 households, emphasizing a multi-generational mix of singles, couples, families with children, and elders.”
According to the CCN, there are currently 35 co-housing projects in Canada that are either up and running, or in some stage of development. Just over half, 18, are located in British Columbia.
CCN has seven co-housing communities listed in Ontario, with the 12-family Terra Firma project in Ottawa the only one currently in operation. The remaining six are listed as either forming or in development.
With the Speedvale project, the property owners are looking “to facilitate a lifestyle with environmental sustainability and social justice as primary values, within an urban context,” according to the urban design brief submitted with the proposal.
To make that vision a reality, it is being proposed that there would be “a central generous interior atrium with individual units opening into the space, common kitchen, gathering space, recreational, fitness, guest and short stay accommodation, personal workout, meditation, yoga, music, art, crafts, workshop, laundry, office and home occupation working spaces,” the urban design brief adds.
There are also plans to keep the existing gardens and wooded area at the rear of the properties, and to use them as a common amenity area.
Along with the new housing units, the proposal includes 25 parking spaces, a right-in/right-out auto access on to Speedvale and full moves driving access on Delhi.
The property’s owners, who live at one of the properties included in the proposal, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Mercury Tribune for this story.
This proposal will come to city hall for a public meeting in front of council in the future, although no date has been set. The next available council meeting is scheduled for March 18, although an agenda for that meeting has not yet been made public.