At a time when housing starts in the GTA continue to falter, Medallion Corporation has announced plans to start construction on six new rental buildings on four sites across the region by early 2025.
Medallion will build 1,500 units in Toronto, Ajax and Oshawa. The largest project, 591 Sherbourne in Toronto, will rise 51 storeys and contain 532 units.
At 3101 Bathurst in Toronto, the developer/builder will construct 178 units in a nine-storey building; on Rossland Road East in Ajax, it will erect two eight-storey buildings with a total of 357 units; and at 135 Bruce Street in Oshawa, Medallion has plans for two rental buildings of 22 and 10 storeys containing a total of 509 units.
Medallion director of development and construction Rad Vucicevich explained the firm is able to buck the trend by relying on shrewd land assembly, close consultation with long-time trade partners, collaboration with municipal partners on permitting — and taking full advantage of a variety of relatively new government tax breaks and financing relief at all four levels.
Game-changing programs
Two federal programs, the Apartment Construction Loan Program and the HST rebate on purpose-built rentals — the latter supported by Ontario’s decision to scrap its portion of the HST — have changed the game as Medallion considers green-lighting projects.
With margins so tight, every opportunity to cut or delay costs, such as the Province of Ontario’s decision to cut development charges on rental projects and the City of Oshawa’s willingness to offer Tax Incremental Financing to postpone property tax accruing, makes a difference.
In the middle of a housing crisis, Vucicevich said, governments are becoming more innovative with policy and even on a personal staffing level.
“The big one is 591 Sherburne, we were hemming and hawing, it was not green-lit,” said Vucicevich. “And then the government announced its HST waiver, and that project became viable.”
He added, “The Apartment Construction Loan Program, that is a very good program.”
The CMHC reported the number of housing starts across Canada in urban centres of 10,000 population and over was down 13 per cent to 20,509 units in June compared to 23,518 units in June 2023. The year-over-year decrease was driven by lower multi-unit starts, down 16 per cent.
Toronto-based Medallion is an integrated real estate development, construction and property management company that has been in business for 60 years. It plans, builds and operates its projects in-house with the exception of design, Vucicevich said.
Aside from some residential subdivisions, its portfolio is all rentals. Its holdings also include commercial office, retail and industrial properties and an extensive land portfolio for future developments.
“First of all, it comes down to land,” Vucicevich said. “We purchase land very, very well and very aggressively. And we buy where others might not, for example, make bigger projects where condo builders would not venture, we end up revitalizing that neighbourhood.”
No over-designing
Another advantage of its long-time status as a unionized builder — Medallion works closely with LIUNA Local 183, Vucicevich said — is the ability to identify construction efficiencies.
“We really, really, make sure that everything is designed very efficiently from a construction and constructability perspective,” he said.
“For example, we minimize elbows and pipes, we minimize structural transfers, we minimize beams, we look very carefully at headrooms…we’re not over-designing.
“We learn lessons in communicating with our trades. We asked them, ‘How would you build this?’ For example, formwork, and where are we wasting money that you don’t think we should be spending on.”
Federal programs such as the Apartment Construction Loan Program do not apply to every project, and where it doesn’t, Vucicevich said, Medallion ensures it has adequate regional and municipal assistance by working closely with officials who want to make a project work.
Oshawa, for example, has created a community improvement plan where development charges are waived, creating favourable conditions for a developer like Medallion.
The City of Ajax, meanwhile, is offering acceleration of its approvals process to get much-needed rentals built, he said.
‘The municipality is actually helping us in terms of, ‘What do you need? Let’s work together.’ We’ve always had a great relationship with Ajax, but in this case, they have a housing shortage, obviously, and they’re helping us accelerate the project.”
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