Mike Mastromatteo –
As Cabbagetowners cope with delays, cost-overruns and other impediments to providing affordable housing, the Yonge Street Mission, which has helped vulnerable people since 1896, is set to expand its outreach.
Beginning in September 2027, the mission plans to demolish three adjacent properties at 306, 308 and 310 Gerrard Street East, erecting instead an 11-storey, 230-room housing complex featuring half affordable and half market-rate units. (One of the properties, 308 Gerrard, was featured in the bridge’s March 2026 edition.)
The apartment complex will sit atop a two-story podium housing support services. Known as “ELEV8” to mission officials, the entire redevelopment is scheduled for completion by 2029.
Angela Solomos, Yonge Street Mission’s vice-president of philanthropy, said the project has been in the works for about eight years. “If we begin construction in the fall of 2027, we should be ready for occupancy within three years,” she told the bridge.
The mission has been operating out of the former Gerrard Tavern at 306 Gerrard Street for the last 10 years. It acquired nos. 310 in 2010 and 308 in 2016.
“The City of Toronto has been tracking this project every step of the way,” Solomos added. “We have held several meetings with our local councillor to keep him in the loop, and have received pre-development funding.”
CEO Angie Peters said the project should help people find affordable housing without disrupting their careers. “ELEV8 has been designed to create a supportive community environment where it’s possible for a person to progress toward their goals without losing their houses. YSM services will support people through community spaces, system navigation, counselling and educational and employment support.”
In the last several months, Cabbagetowners have seen at least two affordable housing and shelter projects in the area go awry. As the bridge reported recently, two redevelopment projects, at 261–271 Wellesley Street East and 233 Carlton Street, are bogged down by bureaucratic wrangling and foot dragging. Neither project is close to meeting originally proposed opening dates. Public expenditures on them are growing by the month, with little to show.
The mission project, still more than three years from completion, will address the dire need for social services and affordable accommodation in the area.
Ward 13 Councillor Chris Moise said the work of community organizations such as the mission is “absolutely vital” especially in the Cabbagetown area, which has the highest usage of social programs in Toronto. “Every time an organization steps up to expand their services into new or underserved areas like affordable housing, bit by bit our social safety net gets stronger, and so do the bonds of our neighbourhoods and communities,” Moise told the bridge.
The Yonge Street Mission was founded in 1896 by John Coolidge Davis. Its first home was a rented storefront at 219 Yonge Street. In 1968, it opened headquarters at 270 Gerrard East, focusing on young people and later seniors, women and families. By the 1990s, it operated a food bank and a thrift store at 310 Gerrard Street.
The property at 306 Gerrard was purchased in 2009, operating as the organization’s head office, with classrooms and resources to support the revitalization of Regent Park.
Toronto Centre MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam has high hopes for the project. “Yonge Street Mission has been planning this project and involving the community in the planning and design process for many years,” she said in an interview. “There is a clear need for both the affordable housing and new community space that they aim to build.
“I know Yonge Street Mission is still working hard to raise the money and ensure the project is completed on time. When public dollars are involved, it is important for the community to be informed and for budgets and timelines to be met.”
CEO Peters is optimistic that funding partners will come through. “At the end of the day, we know that funding for this kind of project is difficult to secure and that the government is stretched,” she said. “As an organization with a $17 million operating budget, we are demonstrating our strong commitment to this project by providing our land and raising $20 million…Toronto is a global city with a track record of compassion and innovation. We hope ELEV8 can play an important role at this critical juncture of our collective housing crisis.”
