The Missing Middle

How GreenSource Flats is Unlocking Value

The City of Toronto (not unlike many large urban cities) is in the midst of a significant housing crisis.  Moreover, this crisis has been worsening for many years (if not many decades) and everyone is aware of it.  But what may be less known, is… how can it be fixed?

High housing demand and low housing supply creates an affordability crisis.   Since housing demand in the City of Toronto only continues to increase year-over-year (and at an accelerating rate), any solution to this crisis relates to addressing issues of the supply side.  Essentially, this means MORE housing is needed in the City of Toronto, but it also needs to include the RIGHT TYPE of housing in the solution.

The City of Toronto is a world-class city.  It has undergone decades of significant growth since the middle of the twentieth century, wherein most of its residential development has been concentrated in low-density (suburban) expansion and high-density (city centre) land uses. 

GreenSource Flats is an innovative RE-development firm focusing on the “Missing Middle” housing type.  That is, GreenSource Flats is determined to create the “right type” of housing that the City of Toronto so badly needs.  Fortunately, this type of housing is largely created by “unlocking value” from the EXISTING housing already present in the EXISTING neighbourhoods that you and your family want to live in.

By RE-developing EXISTING residential lots with newly constructed “multiplexes’, GreenSource Flats allows the very gentle intensification of land uses within the most attractive neighbourhoods.  This means a much more efficient use of EXISTING public infrastructure and services.   Truly a “win-win” situation for both the residents and the City itself.

Here is an example of how GreenSource Flats “unlocks value” of an existing residential property:

                                                                BEFORE     

A Detached, Three Storey, ONE-Family Home (with Basement Used For Storage)

                                                                     AFTER 

A Detached, Three Storey, FOUR-Family Home (in Roughly the Same Building Size as Original Home)*

* Full Floor Plates of roughly 1,200 sq.ft. each (i.e. Four, 2-Bedroom Flats including one in Basement).  All Flats with Separate Entrances and Front Terraces (Basement and Ground Levels also with Rear Yard Walkout and Third Floor Flat also has a Roof-top Patio).

Read what others are saying about the "Missing Middle" crisis...

"Housing challenges are complex. Cities like Toronto need more opportunities across a spectrum of housing types, scale, tenures and levels of affordability. Incorporating innovative designs and new planning policies will create shared success among existing and future residents."
Smart Density Inc.
"These suburban-style territories constitute up to 75% of the land in Toronto with potential for intensification. These areas typically contain aging, post-war housing stock, making them highly suitable for redevelopment to address a ‘missing middle’ of more affordable housing at a scale between high-rise towers/slabs, and single, detached properties. These are also areas where some of our most diverse, and in need populations reside, and where we have already invested a great deal in transit and other public infrastructure that must be better leveraged."
Urban Land Institute Toronto
Building neighbourhoods that provide diverse housing typologies will ensure that more people have the opportunity to live in the neighbourhood of their choice.
Smart Density Inc.
Low-rise residential buildings that contain more than one unit make more efficient use of land, and provide more ground-related housing choices for all residents at all stages of their lives, supporting the vitality of the city's Neighbourhoods.
City of Toronto - Official Plan Amendment #649
"Overall, affordability is a numbers game (even if economists might not fully agree). High housing demand coupled with a shortage of supply creates the perfect storm for an affordability crisis. By loosening planning restrictions, existing housing options will be able to expand and diversify. In addition, most Missing Middle units, especially laneway suites and ‘plexes’, will be rental properties, which supports yet another City priority."
Smart Density Inc.
"The City of Toronto recently advanced a ground-breaking zoning policy study to effectively allow as-of-right multiplexes (2-4 residential units) in residential neighbourhoods across the city as part of the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods Initiative. "
Urban Land Institute Toronto