Cashing in on the condo boom

As the city builds up and out, councillors are working to leverage some kind of deal - any kind of deal - for the community.

  (Brian B. Bettencourt/Toronto Star)  

Thu., Sept. 10, 2015

OK, so we’re going to talk about Section 37 and Section 45 agreements and I know how unsexy that sounds, but hang on for just a few minutes.

Yes, the names are terrible. But the city secured more than $112 million worth of them in 2013 and 2014.

Listening now?

These so-called contributions are an important part of how the city negotiates building applications from developers.

For example, if a developer in a downtown ward wanted to build a highrise that is taller or more dense than the by-laws allow, the developer and the ward’s local councillor in consultation with the city may work out a way to offset those additions by offering some benefit for the community. That could be community space inside a condo tower or a set amount of money to be used towards upgrading playgrounds or public furniture or park space.

The name, if you're wondering, references the part of the provincial legislation that dictates how these kinds of deals can be made.

It's not as easy of a transaction as it might seem. Some believe the city is handcuffed by the Ontario Municipal Board – the provincial body that deals with planning appeals – because developers have been known to get what they want and the community could be left with very little if local councillors don't negotiate for some kind of benefit, even if it is as simple as a public art installation.

Now, for first time, the city has released an annual report outlining how much money or non-cash contributions the city was able to “secure” — as in, what was promised, but not necessarily paid out yet as buildings continue to go up around the city.

Because the agreements are dependent on where buildings get negotiated, the pay outs are not distributed equally, much to the frustration of some, mainly suburban, councillors whose wards are less likely to see mass development.

Early in his term, Mayor John Tory said he would like to see an overhaul of the Section 37 regime following a CBC scoop about Councillor Mark Grimes negotiating for $100,000 less for one of his local communities. How or why that happened never really got resolved (Grimes never responded to the Star when asked about it).

But the city has been looking at more transparency surrounding the process.

According to the new report, most of the funds that have been set aside for something specific have or will go to streetscape improvements ($15 million), community centres and arenas ($11.7 million), affordable housing ($10.2 million), park space ($8.6 million) and public art ($3.8 million).

The Star’s William Davis, using data from the new report, has mapped where 385 Section 37/45 deals were secured across the city:

Section 37/45 contributions by ward

It will come as little surprise to most city hall watchers that Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam’s development-heavy Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale saw the most deals for a total of $39 million in cash and $13.7 million in non-cash contributions.

But 11 wards, many in the suburbs, brought in zero contributions with no applications to launch negotiations.

The more than $112 million collected over the last two years also gives another angle on the condo boom. That money/contributions represents a large chunk of the $482 million collected since amalgamation, according to the report.

https://beta.thestar.com/news/city-hall-blog/2015/09/cashing-in-on-the-condo-boom.html