Toronto Community Housing puts costly renos up for sale
[attach]319[/attach]For Sale: Prime residential location within walking distance of High Park.
The house at 161 Indian Gr. owned by Toronto Community Housing is one of the dozens of properties deemed too costly to repair.
“TCH conducted a comprehensive review of our housing stock,” said spokesperson Kyle Rooks. “The goal was to see the best way to invest scarce resources to ensure quality housing is given to our tenants.”
The Real Estate Asset Investment Strategy completed in December recommended selling 45 homes and three buildings with 326 apartments. Before any of the homes can be sold city council must give its blessing.
“That review found 45 homes needed $9 million for repairs in 10 years,” Rooks said. “That’s not a responsible way to invest.”
If 161 Indian Gr. does go on the market, it would be snapped up quickly, said Royal LePage realtor Julie Kinnear.
“That’s a premium location,” said Kinnear. “It’s parallel to Keele Subway.”
In fact the semi-detached home is three houses up from the Indian Gr. entrance to the subway and a few blocks east of High Park.
“It’s almost impossible to find a home on that street,” she said. “That will likely sell like hotcakes because of the location.”
The 2009 assessed value of the property is $337,500.
She said nine times out of 10 the assessed value is less than what it would sell for in the market. In this case, this house could sell for $375,000, said Kinnear.
Two tenants are listed as living at 161 Indian Gr., which has a front garden and a white, fenced porch with enough room for a rocking chair, plant and large recycling bin. The home appears to be lived in although no one answered the door when the Town Crier came to visit.
Currently, only 14 of the 45 units the city wants to sell are occupied, said Rooks. Toronto Community Housing will pay for the costs to relocate any tenants to similarly priced accommodation.
The sale of all the properties on the list are expected to fetch between $35 – 40 million, according to the Toronto Community Housing’s website.
The housing organization has a repair backlog of $200 million for its entire housing stock and that’s even after an investment of $100 million in 2008.
The repair bill is expected to swell to $950 million over the next 10 years, plus the social housing operator needs about $407 million to revitalize 13 Toronto communities such as Flemingdon Park and Lawrence Heights.
The provider is legally obligated to replace any housing that is torn down or sold.