Y Lofts to receive $1M grant
Former YMCA building site to be converted into luxury apartments
City councillors plan to give $1 million in grants toward the $50-million conversion of the former YMCA building downtown into upscale apartments called Y Lofts.
On Monday, councillors gave preliminary approval to offer the grants under a municipal incentive program meant to encourage developers to reuse older buildings in the central area.
Cynthia Fletcher, the commissioner of infrastructure and planning services for the city, told councillors the idea is to help the city meet its targets for intensification of the downtown.
She also reminded councillors that they can offer special incentives to developers who propose to build affordable housing (which isn’t planned for this project).
Councillors gave preliminary approval to the plan with no debate. Now it needs a ratification vote at a council meeting Dec. 9.
The former Peterborough YMCA at Murray and George streets downtown is being rebuilt as 136 luxury apartments by Toronto developer Atria.
The structures have now been torn down to make way for the apartments in a modern glass building that will be built around the heritage-protected facade of the original YMCA building at the corner.
The downtown YMCA was vacated in 2007 when the new Balsillie Family Y opened on Aylmer Street.
Atria bought the property in 2014 but construction has taken longer than expected due to the complexity of saving the facade of the historic building.
The new city staff report states that the building conversion is eligible for $1 million in grants under the Central Area Community Improvement Plan.
The plan offers incentive grants of up to $10 per square foot of residential conversion, the staff report states.
In this case the city proposes to offer $8.64 per square foot, based on 115,715 square feet of residential space (which adds up to about $1 million).
The report also states that the city has been saving money since 2017 in a fund for these incentive grants; the fund now has $1.3 million.
It's not the only city incentive grant Y Lofts is eligible to receive.
The project is also eligible for $30,000 under the city's facade improvement program, the report states, plus $55,945 in waived building permit fees.
A large construction crane was installed on the former Y in late summer.
In October developer Hans Jain said he doesn't expect the project done for a bit more than a year.
When Jain bought the building in 2014, he expected movein to happen by the spring of 2017.
Then the projected move-in date was advertised as 2018, later revised to 2020 — and in October Jain said it will take more than a year.
Jain said this is the most challenging project that Atria — which specializes in reuse of historic buildings — has ever undertaken.
First he had to rethink the approach when it turned out he couldn't build underground parking without having to demolish much of the Victorian structure.
He ended up buying part of the Murray Street Baptist Church property to the rear for parking and city council allowed him to lease most of the adjacent Brock Street municipal parking lot as well.
Then there's the complexities of the building itself, which has a historic portion built in 1895 plus additions from 1934, 1955 and 1971.
The building has been empty 12 years.
At the time the building was sold for $1 to local geriatrician Dr. Jenny Ingram, who planned to convert it into a seniors complex.
But when those redevelopment plans stalled, Ingram ended up putting the building up for sale again for $1.4 million and sold to Atria.