Region of Durham looking to redevelop community housing sites in Oshawa
Published March 12, 2024 at 7:34 pm
Durham Region is re-imagining five of their social housing locations, with two properties in Oshawa now in Stage 1 of the redevelopment.
An online community meeting was held February 28 to show the public the design concepts and gather feedback for Malaga Road (Park Road south of Bloor Street) and Christine Crescent (Ritson Road south of Olive Avenue).
The final design concept is due this spring.
“We see an opportunity to better serve the needs and wishes of existing tenants and the surrounding community,” read a statement from the Region. “Our vision is to provide a range of housing for diverse needs; create new modernized housing; and support a sense of community and pride of place.”
Durham Council passed a resolution in 2022 identifying Durham Regional Local Housing Corporation properties to be considered for revitalization. The goal of the remake is to provide people with more, higher quality affordable housing and create mixed income communities with a mix of market rent and rent-geared-to-income homes.
The study, which is a collaboration between Social Housing, Planning and the Works Department, is assessing the development potential and design options for each of the sites. The redevelopment will allow the Region to modernize the housing, replace all existing units, provide additional social housing units and integrate new market rate housing.
Videos
Preliminary designs for Malaga Road show a new street pattern providing a street connection and views to the nearby creek valley lands. The concept has taller buildings relating to the open space and existing apartment buildings while a mix of townhomes and stacked townhomes frame the streets in the rest of the site.
An earlier redevelopment (2021-2022) at nearby Thomas Street represents the most “impactful form” of missing middle housing, according to the Region. The infill project retained two heritage buildings while delivering 40 affordable housing units designed to passive house standards.
To learn more about the redevelopment objectives, watch the redevelopment video.
An online community meeting was held on February 28 to reveal the design concepts and gather feedback. You can download the presentation from Feb. 28 here and watch some clips on the Malaga Road and Christine Crescent redevelopment design concepts.
You can also provide feedback via public surveys for Christine Crescent or Malaga Road.
To learn more visit durham.ca/CommunityHousingProject.
