Toronto – Toronto City Council has agreed to leverage City of Toronto-owned lands at 275 Merton St. to build 447 new purpose-built rental homes in midtown Toronto. This project includes a minimum target of 30 per cent affordable rental homes to remain affordable in perpetuity.
To maximize the site’s housing potential and help create more affordable rental homes, the City led negotiations through CreateTO to form a development partnership with Collecdev-Markee to combine the property at 275 Merton St. with an adjacent site owned by the developer.
The adjacent site – located at 267 Merton St. – will be transferred into City ownership and then leased back to Collecdev-Markee along with the City-owned site for a period of 99 years to enable the redevelopment. Collecdev-Markee will deliver and operate the new rental homes while the City will retain ownership of both properties.
Once leased to Collecdev-Markee, the development will follow the City’s standard planning application process. Construction of the 275 Merton project is anticipated to begin in the second half of 2025 with first occupancy in mid-2028.
The city is facing two housing crises – a lack of deeply affordable and supportive housing for low-income marginalized and vulnerable residents and, more recently, rising rents have made it increasingly unaffordable for middle income earners, essential workers and professionals to live in Toronto. Creating a range of new rental homes including rent-geared-to-income, affordable rental and rent-controlled homes is critical in addressing the housing needs of Toronto’s current and future residents.
This partnership provides an opportunity to leverage City land to deliver a range of rental homes including affordable rental homes in support of the City’s HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan targets to approve 65,000 new rent-controlled homes by 2030. More information about the HousingTO 2020-2023 Action Plan can be found on the City’s Website 
. More information about this proposed development is available on the CreateTO website 
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“Through this partnership, the City is supporting a strategic land assembly that will deliver significant city-building benefits, including a substantial number of affordable and market rent-controlled homes. The proposed housing project is a much-needed step towards delivering on the City’s housing targets and will provide options for Torontonians of low-and moderate-income levels.” – Mayor Olivia Chow