A Tour Along the “New Dupont”
I can see the future from my street in the Annex. Upon moving to Toronto in August 2020, I joined my new neighbours in witnessing the steady construction of a new condo at 420 Dupont St. Its looming concrete frame has transformed into what appears to be a white collection of boxes stacked on top of one another.
I was initially indifferent to this development when I first moved into the neighbourhood. Even when it was a concrete frame I could tell that, once finished, the condo wasn’t likely to be my preferred housing choice and it would very likely be overpriced. However, I understood that building new housing supply and density is an important tool to combat rising housing costs and the ecological costs of low-density and urban sprawl. I also noticed that many of the properties along the north side of Dupont Street seemed to be from another time. Many were low-rise commercial buildings, some with relatively large parking lots, that seemed out of place for such a central area in Toronto, so redevelopment of them seem inevitable.
Soon though, my indifference to the building began to turn towards annoyance and confusion when I became aware of just how expensive the units would be via the informative advertising pictured below. Prospective homeowners of The Bianca are expected to spend at least $1.6 million for a condo.
For some likeminded passerby, the placement of concrete barriers that are common on construction sites provided a perfect canvas for an irreverent statement in protest to The Bianca’s place in the Annex. When I first saw the statement “I’m a sad ugly condo and you know it ” graffitied in front of the building, I felt vindicated knowing that I was not alone in my thoughts about The Bianca. There is at least one person out there (who carries spray-paint on their person) who agrees with me.
The white collection of boxes under construction on Dupont Street between Albany and Howland Avenues is one amongst many planned developments along Dupont Street that is a part of what developers are calling “The New Dupont.” The developments that are a part of this planned transition in the neighbourhood will all be mixed-use buildings between 9 and 13 storeys tall.
The property that currently houses Creeds Coffee Bar, Silverstar Car Wash, and Studio North is proposed to be redeveloped into a mixed-use, 11-storey building with 230 residential units.
Currently, the empty lots at 316 and 328 Dupont Street offer a great view of Casa Loma, but soon it will be the site of a 13-storey building with 115 residential units and a 9-storey commercial tower.
Now on the other side of Bathurst from The Bianca is 500 Dupont. This site was formerly a Beer Store with a large parking lot. It is now in the early stages of its transition to being the site of a 9-storey mixed-use building with 145 residential units.
Once completed, these new buildings will all be within a ten minute walk along Dupont Street. Being in such proximity to one another, the “New Dupont” these buildings represent is easy to imagine. Furthermore, all of the buildings will have good access to the subway station at Dupont, or either of the Spadina or Bathurst streetcar stations that will make it easier for residents to avoid using personal vehicles to travel around the city. However, despite these developments rejuvenating properties along Dupont that were previously commercial in focus into mixed-used, transit-oriented developments; all of the marketing for the buildings feature terms such as “luxury” and “boutique.” Of course, this shouldn’t be surprising when one of them has units starting at $1.6 million.
Months ago, the development notices in front of many of these lots featured an irreverent protest statement similar to the one painted onto the concrete barriers previously discussed. I chuckled at the phrase “Luxury Ghettos” when I first saw it tagged on the signs in months past. The signs that featured this graffiti have since been replaced with new ones (the photo below is from Google Street View at 316 Dupont Street), but I was reminded of them as I researched these developments. The screenshot from the Street View also shows the new development being marketed as “Modern Luxury.”
When considering all of these developments in aggregate, it becomes clear how their completion will bring about a noticeable change in the dynamic of the neighbourhood. The north side Dupont Street will change from being made up of largely commercial and industrial properties; to a series of multi-storey, mixed-used buildings that add hundreds of residential units in total to the neighbourhood. In the context of rising housing costs, this may seem like a step in the right direction to boost supply of housing, but it brings into question whether the type of housing being constructed should be considered as well.
Are new developments which focus on providing “luxury” housing going to build the kinds of neighbourhoods that average Canadians will be able to live in and enjoy sustainably into the future? Considering the high cost of purchasing units in The Bianca, I’m not so sure that will be the case. In order for the crisis related to the rising cost of living to be sufficiently addressed, urban policymakers need to find ways to create housing supply without relying on the construction of residential units focussed on the “luxury” market. An exclusive reliance on market mechanisms in guiding development will likely make this difficult in established neighbourhoods like the Annex, as housing prices are already quite high and developers are motivated to make as quick a return on their investment as possible by selling units for the highest possible prices. Policy instruments, that allow for the development of truly affordable housing, like reinvestment in social and rental housing, is vitally important if we want neighbourhoods like the Annex to not only have diverse mixes of residential and commercial properties, but also be welcome areas to live for to all sorts of Torontonians.
