Years of delay and millions overspent – Dixon Hall rooming house reno a ‘project management failure’

Andre Bermon –

 It was meant to be an 18-month job. Renovate and rehouse.

A row of four-storey herit­age properties on Parliament Street, former Toronto Com­munity Housing rooming hous­es, were given to Dixon Hall, a social service agency, to build a “transformative” supportive housing project in the heart of Cabbagetown: clean, affordable units for those in need.

Nearly four years later, the houses are empty, construction unfinished and the projected completion costs have more than doubled, according to a freedom of information request shared with the bridge: from an estimated $6.4 million in 2020 to $14 million.

“If you did a postmortem on this project, you would identify lack of clarity and accountabil­ity as one of the factors behind the overspend and lateness,” said Andrew Haisley, a local resident who filed the FOI re­quest.

A city spokesperson said the delays in renovating the prop­erties at 502–508 Parliament Street were primarily due to challenges in the housing sec­tor following Covid-19. The city cited rising construction costs, supply chain disruptions, and the complexities of modernizing heritage buildings as reasons behind the revised budget.

Following the adoption of City Council’s Tenant First di­rective in March 2018, Toronto Community Housing Corpora­tion (TCHC) began transferring its 22 rooming house properties to non-profit housing providers. Under this initiative, the city committed to covering the costs of repairs and renovations be­fore handing the properties over to the designated non-profit op­erators.

Dixon Hall, as the future own­er and operator of the Parliament Street site, was responsible for managing onsite construction, including selecting contractors to provide 42 units of support­ive housing.

According to the city, the con­tractor hired for the renovation work is TERCO Construction Ltd. Its website lists the pro­ject’s original contract value as $5,725,000 with a “revised” completion date of May 2025.

In June 2020, council passed a motion releasing $6 million of Section 37 funds, money gener­ated from upzoning residential development, to repair and ren­ovate affordable housing at 502- 508 Parliament Street.

As of this June, Dixon Hall has passed on additional invoicing in the amount of $7,821,793.68 to TCHC. The work includ­ed sanitary line replacement, structural repairs, moderniza­tion of life safety systems (fire escapes, sprinkler systems) and extensive heritage-related revi­talization.

The city’s housing secretariat approved the additional funds after a “rigorous review process designed to ensure accounta­bility, fiscal responsibility and alignment with the City’s hous­ing and equity goals,” according to the city.

Ward 13 (Toronto Centre) Councillor Chris Moise wrote to the bridge, “It is expensive to refurbish heritage properties… once you start getting into the walls, you find additional things that has [sic] to be addressed.” Creating more housing stock is a “priority for Council,” Moise concluded.

On the other hand, Haisley said the significant cost over­run puts into question the city’s ability to oversee housing pro­curement. “I get that things can go wrong, but we’re not talking like a 20 per cent overrun here, or six months delay.

“We find it’s four years late (and) 100% over budget, so clearly there is some pretty se­rious project management fail­ures here.”

According to the city, 504–508 Parliament is expected to be completed in Q3 of 2025, and 502 Parliament is expected to be completed in Q1 of 2026.

In 2018, Dixon Hall was se­lected to operate another row of TCHC-owned rooming houses in Cabbagetown, at 265–275 Wellesley Street East. The prop­erties have remained boarded up for years, plagued by per­sistent structural and mainte­nance challenges. Despite plans for renewal, funding has yet to materialize from City Hall.

Based on Dixon Hall’s perfor­mance, Haisley believes council should reconsider the Wellesley Street East portfolio. “There are other organizations out there showing the ability to deliver things to a reasonable schedule and within the forecast budget.”