As of August 2018, the City of Toronto has allowed laneway suites (accessory dwelling units) to be built as-of-right in the Toronto and East York area of the city (subject to meeting some criteria). This was a tremendous step forward for the city. And I… Read More
I met Mark Garner, who is the COO and Executive Director of the Downtown Yonge BIA, about five years ago. We met because of our shared passion around Toronto’s laneways. At the time, you weren’t allowed to do what we now call laneway suites. Housing… Read More
ISA Architects recently completed a project in North Philadelphia called Tiny Tower. It is a 6-level, 1,250 square foot single family home built on a small 12′ x 29′ lot. That’s about the footprint of two parking spaces. It feels like a house you might… Read More
I was looking at this laneway house for sale in Toronto today. It’s located near Queen and Bathurst. It has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and is about 2,331 square feet (that looks to include a basement). The lot appears to be just over 13′ wide.… Read More
For those of you who aren’t going to be in Toronto next week, you can stop reading now and check back tomorrow. For the rest of you, next week is The Future Cities Canada Summit, which will be taking place from November 7 – 9.… Read More
Today we released the above rendering for Junction House and announced that sales will begin this fall. 144 condominium homes. A mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom suites, including our Two-Storey House Collection and our Laneway House Collection. Prices starting in the $400s. One… Read More
This evening Slate Asset Management hosted the community meeting that I’ve been writing about on the blog over the last little while. And at this open house Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang introduced a new block plan and mixed-use building at the southwest corner of… Read More
Vancouver is light years ahead of Toronto when it comes to laneway housing/suites. And by light years I mean that their Laneway House (LWH) Program is about a decade old now. Last month the City of Vancouver published this staff report which outlined recommendations for… Read More
It happened. Today, Toronto and East York Community Council voted unanimously in favor of adopting a planning framework that would allow laneway suites on lands within the Toronto and East York District that are designated as “Neighbourhoods.” If you’d like to see the actual vote (and… Read More
Last month the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment that would have permitted laneway suites as-of-right in Toronto was deferred by Community Council. So the “Changing Lanes” policy has been updated – to obviously make it more restrictive – and it will head back to… Read More
