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Affordable senior housing project set to open Feb.28: Former Chester Village long-term care facility offers green living to lower income seniors

Feb 28

Written by: admin
2/28/2011 

After nearly two years of construction, Chester Village, the former nursing home at 717 Broadview Ave., will soon reopen as a 69-unit affordable rental housing apartment for seniors.
Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) - the building's landlord - is set to welcome the first batch of tenants to the 11-floor residence Monday, Feb. 28.
"It's very exciting for us. I think the seniors will be very happy here. The building has been thought through for seniors' living," said Mitzie Hunter, TCHC's chief administrative officer, during a recent tour of the site, which is just a block south of Danforth Avenue.
"It's close to the subway, the grocery store and all the amenities on The Danforth."
Toronto Community Housing contributed $3.7 million toward the $14.7 million project, while the City of Toronto's Capital Revolving Fund alongside the Ontario/Federal Affordable Housing Program chipped in $8.91 million. Funding from the federal Infrastructure Stimulus plan came in at $1.4 million, while WoodGreen Community Services, an east-end social services agency, contributed $700,000.
The refurbishment entailed a complete interior retrofit with workers gutting and stripping the building down to the brick walls.
The structure has been completely re-insulated and its elevators refurbished.
For additional safety, sprinklers have also been installed in each unit and all common areas.
The building now has a new two-storey lobby, a laundry room, multi-purpose room with a kitchenette and electric fireplace, a superintendent's office on the main floor as well as a new reading room and greenhouse with a green roof.
There's also office space available for use by the City of Toronto.
Every step has been taken to make the building as energy efficient as possible with the end goal of reducing operating costs and the reliance on non-renewable resources. New windows, EnergyStar appliances as well as low-flow, dual flush toilets and low-flow shower heads have been installed throughout the building.
The building is heated and cooled by a ground source heat pump, an innovative system that uses heat from the ground. This building is the second one in TCHC's inventory to use this type of heating/cooling concept.
Because of its former incarnation as a nursing home with 134 rooms and 180 beds, the former Chester Village long-term care facility had to be designed in a way where there are 11 different types of units per floor; 10 one-bedroom units and a two-bedroom suite.
The building also offers barrier-free units with a special kitchen sink undercut, lowered light and other switches, a side-by-side fridge, a barrier-free shower, as well as closets with lowered bars.
There's also a garbage area on each floor with chutes for garbage, organics and recyclables.
Outdoor areas have also been taken into consideration such as a community garden with raised cubes for easier access by older tenants or those with mobility issues.
Bird Construction served as the construction manager, while raw Design was the architect. MCW Consultants Ltd. handled mechanical and electrical. Banerjee&Associates Ltd. was retained for the structural work and Vertechs Design Inc. is the landscape architect.
The average cost of a one-bedroom suite is $760/month or $908/month for a two-bedroom apartment. The minimum income required for tenants wanting to live at 717 Broadview Ave. is $27,360 for a one-bedroom or $32,688 for a two-bedroom unit, while the maximum income is $36,480 and $43,584, respectively.
Five of the units will be offered at a rent-geared-to-income rate and will be filled through the social housing waiting list.
Anyone interested in leasing a unit should call 416-981-RENT.
The former Chester Village Nursing Home closed in late 2006 after it was deemed not up to code for long-term care facilities and too expensive to upgrade the 717 Broadview Ave. building. Chester Village is now operating in a new facility at 3555 Danforth Ave., near Warden Avenue. It can now accommodate 203 residents.
Residents interested in having a say about the building's future use met on several occasions with city staff and TCHC to express their interest in maintaining the complex as a place for older residents.
"There's a tremendous need in this city for seniors' housing as the population ages," Hunter noted.
Back in 2000, one controversial option was to turn the north Riverdale building into a massive shelter for homeless people. That idea was scrapped when residents of the ex-nursing home stayed there longer than expected. Strong community opposition and a decrease in the need for emergency shelters were also factors in the decision to consider other uses.For a video tour of the new facilities please visit www.insidetoronto.com/videozone/956886


WoodGreen Community Services has purchased roughly 9,500-square-feet of space on the main and lower levels of 717 Broadview Ave. for various seniors programs, notably its adult day program for frail seniors with mild forms of dementia as well as Meals on Wheels.
Programming is expected to begin there the week of Feb. 28.
This fall, WoodGreen also plans on starting to run various health-related programming like tai chi and yoga, and workshops and presentations for active seniors in the lower level of its new 717 Broadview Ave. site, which also has a secure outdoor space.
Additional funding for the Community Care Access Centre and the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network also means WoodGreen will be able to provide more programming to help seniors live longer and better in their homes and, in the long term, reduce costs on the health care system, said Brian Smith, WoodGreen's president and CEO.
This new space means WoodGreen can relocate some of the programming for older adults it currently runs at its 815 Danforth Ave. location. It also means some of the workshops and courses linked to its Homeward Bound program (a unique four-year job-readiness program that offers affordable housing, child care, training and post-secondary education in a marketable skill, personal development support, mental health and recreational services for children, and a guaranteed, family-sustaining career opportunity) can be held at the Danforth Avenue site until another new building on Donlands Avenue is ready for occupancy.
"The space we have at 815 Danforth is better than we had but this new one is much improved," Smith said, added a community open house for its new site at 717 Broadview Ave. will likely happen this spring.

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