A Toronto developer is making the case for a partnership with the Town of Aurora to build attainable housing.
Daniel Segal, who owns Segal Construction, a company specializing in small, laneway-style houses, said he has approached about half of the municipalities in Ontario, with plans to approach all the municipalities in the province, with his pitch for attainable housing.
“What I’m proposing is attainable, meaning the type of housing that your kids or maybe your grandkids would move into, when they first move out of their parent’s house,” he told council at a committee of the whole meeting Oct. 1. “Alternatively, it could be seniors downsizing or else workers coming to Aurora.”
Segal’s company specializes in building pre-fabricated homes, usually around 600 to 800 square feet, and taking between four to six months to construct. He has built several projects in Toronto and Hamilton.
Segal approached the town for a partnership because he said the borrowing costs developers like him can face while investing in such ventures are too risky, but municipalities would have easier access to financing the projects.
He said the idea would be for municipalities to help fund building the homes and then sell them to buyers, which Segal said is uncommon for affordable-type housing, outside of programs like Habitat for Humanity.
In response, Mayor Tom Mrakas asked whether Segal had made the pitch to York Region, with Segal responding that his proposal was “outside their jurisdiction.”
“What I’m proposing here is a solution to housing in Ontario, that keeps young people from leaving the province looking for greener pastures elsewhere, specifically because they can’t find a place to start a family that makes any sense,” said Segal.
Councillor Wendy Gaertner said the designs “looks really terrific,” but said accessing land might be an issue.
While Segal agreed, he said towns could look at creative solutions to finding serviced land throughout the province.
Ultimately, council received the report for information.
