Regent Park

Regent Park in downtown Toronto is the site of one of the largest and oldest public housing developments in Canada, originally built in 1948 and the 1950s. Formerly part of the Cabbagetown neighborhood, it’s bounded by Gerrard Street East to the north, River Street to the east, Shuter Street to the south, and Parliament Street to the west. The neighborhood got its name from Irish immigrants who used their rowhouse front yards to grow food, notably cabbage! After WWI, the area became poorer and soon was considered to be a “slum” by city decision makers. This large area of Cabbagetown was razed to be replaced with a housing project inspired by the UK’s Garden City Movement. It included plenty of open space, pathways, and inward-facing residential towers in superblocks. Only two remnants of the old neighborhood remained behind – Park Street and Regent Street; which resulted in the name of Regent Park for the new project. 

The original project was zoned to include apartment buildings, townhouses, and high-rise apartments but no shops or community services. Ultimately, the buildings were poorly maintained, and due to the deterioration and rising crime, the neighborhood got a reputation as a crime-ridden “no-go” zone by the 1970s. 

The momentum to redevelop the neighborhood emerged as early as the 1990s from residents’ groups who organized to address safety concerns and declining housing quality. In response, in 2002 the City of Toronto launched the creation of a five-phase redevelopment master plan that is expected to take up to 30 years for full implementation. The estimated population of Regent Park will increase from about 7,500 residents before revitalization to more than 17,000 once all five phases are completed.  

The community’s overarching goal was to create social cohesion and social inclusion in the community, by focusing on four pillars: safety, community building, employment/economic development, and communications. The project restored the street grid and improved walkability in the area, and it has added a variety of retail uses, including the neighborhood’s first supermarket, as well as athletic fields, daycares, community gardens and social services agencies. 

The project was approved in 2002, and redevelopment began in 2006. The Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) selected Daniels Corporation as the developer for phases 1 to 3. In 2018, TCHC issued a new RFP for the final two phases, and Tridel was selected in 2020 to develop phases 4 and 5. The primary focus of the new development is housing. An important claim made by Toronto Community Housing from the beginning of the revitalization plan was that all Regent Park residents who have been relocated due to construction are guaranteed a right to a new unit in the revitalized neighborhood. The plan was designed to replace the original 2,083 subsidized housing units, add 399 new affordable units, and add up to 5,500 new market-rate condo units, reducing the proportion of social housing units in the neighborhood from 44 percent to 25 percent. When complete, all of the original Regent Park townhome and low- and mid-rise brick buildings will be replaced with brick, steel and glass mid- and high-rise multifamily structures.  

The master plan proposed new streets both north to south and east to west to reintegrate the large superblocks of Regent Park into the fabric of Toronto’s historic street grid. This will also result in more space allocated to community green space, especially space that is accessible to the public. In addition to new mixed-income residences, there are new ground-floor commercial spaces and community facilities, including a bank, grocery store, aquatic center, a six-acre park, community center, restaurant and an arts and cultural center. Services available in the community include a birth center, a dental office and various social service agencies, including mental health services. The site is well located, served well by transit, and close to the City’s Financial District. However, the opportunities for connection among public housing tenants and condo owners within the residential buildings are much more limited. In Phases 1 to 3, the new buildings are either entirely public housing run by TCHC, or wholly market condos/townhouses. There is no mixing within individual structures. Among the townhouses, the subsidized units have blue exterior doors, while the brown doors signify market-rate units. 

For Phases 4 and 5, Tridel and TCHC have revisited the master plan for Regent Park. In their vision, they outline a beautiful, environmentally responsible, and socially vibrant community. Tridel is proposing a mixed-use development with residential uses of varied tenure, ground-floor retail units, community uses, and a library. In total, the development vision includes approximately 2,973 residential dwelling units (1,792 market units and 1,181 affordable units). Learn more about phases 4 and 5 here. 

Current market conditions have led Tridel to replace townhouses which are no longer financially viable on the site with mid- and high-rise buildings. As a result, Tridel has submitted a rezoning application to the city to seek increased density for phases 4 and 5. Some critics are concerned that the “vertical sprawl” may recreate some of the problems from earlier eras. 

Grassroots community organizers sparked the redevelopment project and is well regarded as an example of community-centric development. The residents described themselves as “people who love their community so passionately that they are pioneering its transformation into a place of connection and inclusion for generations to come.” The Daniels Corporation and its partners  held a variety of large public meetings, open houses, and smaller workshops with key stakeholders to gather community input. Outreach was accessible in several languages.  

In 2007, the Regent Park community, the TCHC and the City worked together to create a new shared vision, the Regent Park Social Development Plan, which focuses on four pillars: safety, community building, employment/economic development, and communications. However, the City did not commit funds for plan implementation until 2019, when $635,000 was allocated. 

The population in the subsidized housing of Regent Park has historically been new immigrants from wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Other than English, the five main languages spoken in Regent Park include Bengali, Mandarin, Tamil, Cantonese and Vietnamese. 

Although the immigrant population in Regent Park is comparable to the rest of Toronto, the neighborhood has a significantly higher percentage of residents who identify as members of a visible minority (70 percent compared to 51.5 percent).  About 41 percent of residents are children and youth under 18. 

All original residents were guaranteed a right to return to Regent Park. Some residents were able to relocate within Regent Park during construction, while other residents moved within the broader Downtown East area or other parts of the city. Although some former tenants decided to leave public housing, everyone who returned was guaranteed a replacement unit that accommodated their family size. TCHC also provided new space to agencies that had been operating in the original buildings at below market cost. 

Inclusive planning practices also helped design shared neighborhood public spaces such as community gardens and public art as well as activities and cultural programming. 

The city-run Regent Park Community Centre includes a fitness center, meeting room spaces, and an office of the Toronto Employment Service. The community center and an aquatic facility were public investments sought to strengthen community social cohesion via shared amenities. Health care, mental health, and social services are easily accessible from the new housing. Toronto Community Housing provided new spaces to agencies that were previously operating in the old buildings. 

In spring 2021, Toronto Community Housing and Tridel kicked off a public consultation process for the final two phases. Tridel proposed $26.8 million dollars as part of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) as part of their proposal to the RFP for phases 4 and 5. The CBA will support of jobs, scholarships, and funds for programs. The CBA will be legally binding and informed by an in-depth community engagement plan and ultimately an oversight committee to monitor implementation.  

The redevelopment of Regent Park created the opportunity to add many environmentally sustainable features via infrastructure, community design, and building design All of the residential buildings in phases 1-3 as well as the Daniels Spectrum arts and cultural center are LEED certified. In addition, the entire master plan achieved gold certification level under the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system. The new Regent Park will be powered by a low-carbon district energy system.  

Phases 4 and 5 will continue to showcase the City of Toronto’s commitment to net zero ready buildings, with market buildings following the increasingly ambitious best practices outlined in the new version of the Toronto Green Standard that came into effect on January 1, 2022. Buildings will incorporate passive sustainability measures including enhanced daylighting, natural cross ventilation, on-site stormwater management, and measures to combat urban heat island effects. 

In addition, the development includes extensive parks, community gardens, and green space. 

Examples include: 

The redevelopment plan also encourages walking, cycling and transit use and reduced automobile use to improve safety, promote environmental sustainability, and cultivate neighborhood character. 

In the current era, with a lack of public funding for social housing, public-private partnerships are seen as a key solution to redeveloping deteriorating public housing units such as Regent Park. 

The original vision was that Regent Park would become self-financing, by leveraging the site’s prime location in downtown Toronto to replace the declining social housing. Sales of more than 5,000 new market-rate units on the 69-acre site were expected to cover the cost of replacing TCHC’s 2,083 subsidized apartments. Public financing sources for infrastructure and other site improvements would include the City of Toronto, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, the Government of Ontario and the Federal Government of Canada. 

While the redevelopment has been successful at achieving a vibrant, mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhood, the financial model has not worked as intended. Politics, delays, policy changes, and flaws in the business model have led to shortfalls that the City must cover. As of 2019, the project had accumulated a $350 million shortfall. Further shortfalls are projected for phases 4 and 5. A repayment plan has not yet been established.  

Project budget estimates as of mid-2017 put the overall cost at $1.585 billion. This includes $1.09 billion in transaction proceeds plus $494 million in contributions from local, provincial, and federal government sources. 

Residential development in the Regent Park revitalization is a mix of owner-occupied for-sale and rental units for both market-rate and subsidized households. 

Historically, the population of Regent Park was new immigrant households from a wide diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, most of whom lived in the public housing units. The addition of market-rate units in the redevelopment has attracted urban professionals, young couples (both with and without children), and empty-nesters.  

In 2008-09, during Phase 1 of the redevelopment project, the Daniels Corporation faced a unique situation of selling market-rate condos or townhouses within a transitioning public housing complex. To help launch sales, Daniels created a financial incentive program for company employees, pre-registered investors, and brokers to buy market-rate condos in the One Cole building before they were put on sale to the general public.  

Also during this period, 110 existing Regent Park residents purchased condos within the re-developed area with the assistance of a government affordable home ownership program. These respective marketing programs succeeded in selling 76 percent of the units, offering valuable evidence of buyer interest for later phases.  

Rents and sales prices for the new market-rate condos and townhouses of Regent Park are now very expensive, with property values that have risen steadily in an overall strong housing market.  

In 2009, a condo in Regent Park was valued at $390 a square foot.¹ By 2019, that figure had risen to more than $1,000 a square foot. In 2022, a one-bedroom condominium in a high-rise listed at $749,900 and a three-bedroom townhouse in the neighborhood is offered at $1.25 million. 

Market rents range from $1,290 for a studio to $2,850 for a 3-bedroom apartment, about 10 percent higher than the Toronto average rent.  

While there are shared public spaces within Regent Park—such as the pool, community center, arts hub, schools, and stores, there are not common building amenities in Regent Park. Market-rate condominium buildings have common areas like a gym, roof-top patio, play structures, or a library, but these are only available to building residents. 

The initial retail leasing in the Regent Park redevelopment focused on everyday commercial services, such as a bank branch, a supermarket, a pharmacy and a coffee shop.  

In the second phase of the retail leasing, the Daniels Group launched the Community Commercial Program, with commercial space set aside for startup businesses founded by Regent Park entrepreneurs. These efforts were also supported by a microbusiness mentorship program run out of Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. The Paint Box restaurant, a social enterprise in the community, emerged as a popular spot in the area. 

The City of Toronto’s planning department also developed guidelines and market studies to assist developers with more flexible commercial/retail spaces to help attract local entrepreneurs. 

Creating a mixed-income community can have a variety of impacts, both expected and unexpected. For example, despite the pre-development social and structural challenges of the Regent Park, public housing residents also had a strong sense of community and a history of political organizing. A growing population that is anticipated to be 75 percent market-rate—often with more political clout and social power—is inherently altering the social fabric of the neighborhood. 

Right of return was not smooth for many. Although every resident of TCHC housing was guaranteed a right of return, in the initial phases most had to be relocated off-site until their new units were built, with a wait that could last for years. Rather than move again, some chose not to return.  

Some community benefits from revitalization will require constant care and attention to be fully realized, particularly in a multi-decade project. The implementation of a Social Development Plan and the creation of new jobs for area residents flagged for many years. The city council at last allocated funding to begin addressing the SDP after a 13-year wait. The details about actual job creation have been persistently vague. 

Accountability is essential. Some that have sought to track the path of the redevelopment and its outcomes have reported difficulties with a lack of timely and easily sourced data about the project from TCHC. 

Social integration has multiple dimensions. Finally, while the master plan succeeded in re-establishing a hierarchy of streets and public spaces, with connections to the neighborhoods north, west and south of Regent Park, the buildings themselves remain segregated, with no co-location of social and market units. 

Finding ways to balance local residents’ access to community spaces with the larger City is difficult.  Low-income children in Regent Park have not always been able to get into the free public programming at the new neighborhood pool. A city policy that allows children from any part of the city to access any community center’s programs created a competitive registration process that was often more accessible to well-resourced households. 

Daniels Spectrum – 2016 Global Awards for Excellence Winner 

Virtual Tour 

https://knowledge.uli.org/en/Tours/2021/Toronto%20Regent%20Park

A Progress Report on Regent Park Revitalization 

https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/research-articles/a-progress-report-on-regent-park-revitalization-uoft-munk-school-metcalf-foundation-and-spacing-toronto/

IN PHOTOS: Regent Park: A look back through the years at Canada’s oldest social housing project 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/regent-park-a-look-back-through-the-years-at-canadas-oldest-social-housing-project/article27612426/

Farewell Oak Street (1953, 16 mins) 
https://www.nfb.ca/film/farewell_oak_street/  

This scripted film presents a before-and-after picture of people living in the Cabbagetown neighborhood “slums” and then the Regent Park public housing project. Note the tone of the film which is trying to highlight the positive features of the new development. 

Farewell Regent documentary trailer (2 mins):  

Garden City: The History And Revitalization Of Toronto’s Regent Park Neighbourhood 
https://urbaneer.com/blog/history_of_torontos_regent_park_neighbourhood  

Regent Park Secondary Plan 

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/902b-cp-official-plan-SP-28-RegentPark.pdf

Google Street View Images of Regent Park 2007-2021 

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6601537,-79.3625723,3a,75y,78.85h,89.86t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxIpsvyn66H7sr6bkDtT2qA!2e0!5s20070901T000000!7i3328!8i1664

 
Regent Park Revitalization: A Progress Report by Spacing, Spacing magazine (December 7, 2021) 

http://spacing.ca/toronto/2021/12/07/regent-park-revitalization-a-progress-report-by-spacing/ 

Plan for High-Rise Density in Regent Park is a Missed Opportunity, Storeys (May 5, 2022) 

https://storeys.com/high-rise-density-regent-park-missed-opportunity/