Latest news with #DianeSilva
CBC
16 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Conversion of former London hospital gets $4.8M boost from donor fund
Social Sharing More than $22 million of the $25 million donated anonymously by a family two years ago to help London respond to a housing and homelessness crisis has now been allocated. On Monday, the housing charity Indwell announced that $4.8 million from the Fund For Change would go toward the conversion of 346 South St. into 96 affordable supportive housing units. Built in 1921, the heritage building once served as Western University's medical school. The building is also part of the Vision SoHo Alliance, a partnership of six non-profit developers coming together to build affordable housing units on the former Victoria Hospital grounds. Indwell has also received $2.8 million in private donations for the project, which is currently under construction with a planned opening date of winter 2027. Diane Silva is president of the London Community Foundation, which manages the Fund for Change in consultation with the donor family. At an event held Monday to announce the recent funding, Silva said the building will give residents more than a rental unit. It will also include wraparound supports, everything from help with health care and addiction treatment to meal preparation and other supports. "When you put people in housing that have been unhoused for a long time — people that come with complex physical or mental health needs — if they don't have that wraparound support care, they're not going to be successful," she said. Silva pointed to the House of Hope, a supportive housing building on Dundas Street operated by London Cares, as a successful model for effective housing for high-needs tenants. "When they get the care that they need, they get better," said Silva. Indwell CEO Jeff Neven said the donation to the Fund for Change helped move the project along quickly. He said senior governments can sometimes be reluctant to contribute money for new housing projects unless they're almost shovel-ready. However, because getting housing projects to that stage is expensive, donations are essential to move the project along. "The level of support that we've received here in London is unique because of its scale and its interest in coming to the table first," said Neven. "The donated dollars here helped us to get this project ready to go." Mayor Josh Morgan said the South Street building will be able to provide a proper level of care for high-needs tenants. He said in the past, they were sometimes placed in London Middlesex Community Housing units. Often, those placements didnt' work out, he said. "They would be unsuccessful in their housing journey," he said. "They'd be moved out, and the corporation was stuck with a big repair bill for damage to their unit because we weren't caring for people properly." Morgan said supportive housing already built in London has helped reduce calls to police and paramedics and also cut down on emergency department visits. "They have taken the pressure off of other critical services in our community," said Morgan. Other projects in London that have received money from the Fund For Change include: Atlohsa Family Healing Services and St. Joseph's Health Care London ($1.3 million in capital). Youth Opportunities Unlimited and London Health Sciences Centre ($3 million). Coves Landing (Elmwood Place): 50 units of highly supportive housing ($4 million for capital, $1.7 million in operating funds). Targeted opening 2026. Hilda Stuart Lofts: 42 units (formerly War Memorial Children's Hospital) conversion in SoHo. ($1.5 million for capital). London Cares House of Hope: 49 highly supportive housing units ($846,000 for one year of operating costs). CMHA-Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services: 115 units in two locations. Targeting opening for 2026 and 2027. ($5 million for capital).
CTV News
19 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Latest Indwell housing project transforms lives and preserves heritage
More Londoners with specialized needs will soon have a place to call home. Millions of dollars in government funding, as well as public and private donations were announced Monday for the latest project by Christian housing charity, Indwell. 'Highly supportive housing for some people is the first time in a long time that they've been able to have a place of their own, go behind a door, sleep in a bed, and have people there who care about their well-being,' said London Mayor Josh Morgan, while speaking at the steps of 346 South Street in London's Village SoHo. Morgan was among those on hand as London's Health and Homelessness Fund for Change announced $4.8 million in capital funding Indwell's latest highly supportive housing project. 'It's so fitting that this highly supportive housing project is part of Village SoHo- a larger initiative to ensure everyone has a safe, secure, and affordable place to call home,' said Diane Silva, President and CEO, London Community Foundation (administrator of the Fund for Change). In addition, an anonymous donor has pledged $1.1 million, with a challenge to the community to match donations. To date, Indwell had already received $2.8 million in pledges and gifts. 'The Fund for Change is spurring on and leveraging investment from all levels of government, and it's inspiring more of us to dig in to our pockets and donate to a project that's really going to make a difference,' said Jeff Neven, Indwell CEO. Built in 1921, the former Western University Medical School was decommissioned more than a decade ago. The new residence will include 96 units for singles, couples, and families, said Neven. 'And now we have an historic shell that's solid, and we can build apartments inside of that shell. And it's absolutely stunning. You know the enormously high ceilings would give a beautiful loft feeling and volume to the units and large window spaces, would just create a beautiful living space.' The building has been prepped and dried out. The actual construction gets underway in the fall of this year, with a two-year construction timeline. It's expected to be open and welcoming its first tenants by late 2027.
CBC
21-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Farhi partners with London Community Foundation to pitch empty properties as housing
Social Sharing Three decades after it rose at the corner of Dundas and Richmond Streets, only one tenant now calls London's Market Tower home — a lone mobile phone retailer on the ground floor. Next door, an older 14-storey building has loomed empty over the skyline after its namesake tenant, Royal Bank of Canada, moved out in 2019. A two-storey annex in between is also vacant. All told, it's roughly 28,000 square metres of building space sitting unused in the heart of London at a time when local leaders are grappling with a housing and homelessness crisis. The buildings' owner and a long-time London charity are hoping to change that. Farhi Holdings Corp. (FHC) and London Community Foundation (LCF) say they're working to find one or more non-profits interested in buying the properties and making them affordable housing. "With Farhi, we are aware that he has significant holdings in the downtown area," said Diane Silva, LCF's president and CEO. "With the rise of remote work, and the city launching this plan of converting office units into housing, I think that's where the magic happened, and the concept of us partnering together." The ambitious plan is outlined in a Request for Expressions of Interest document, or REOI, posted online last week by the city, aimed at gauging interest from qualified organizations. Submissions close in mid-March. Three other downtown Farhi properties are also in the proposal, including the former downtown Rexall, the former London Free Press site, and a neighbouring surface parking lot. "This initiative continues in my father's nearly 40-year tradition and legacy of giving back to the community with significant philanthropic initiatives and contributions," said Ben Farhi of FHC. "We recognize the urgent need for affordable housing. We further believe partnering with the right organizations, like LCF and others, is key to delivering meaningful impact to specific sites, and we're proud to work alongside the great people at LCF." In a statement, the city stressed it was not buying or establishing development plans in relation to the properties involved. "The results will be collected and assessed for viability, and if something tangible comes out of the proposals, a subsequent procurement may be issued to solidify partnerships and commitments from the City of London." It comes as London's core commercial vacancy rate hovers around 26 per cent, and as the city works to build 3,000 affordable units by the end of 2026, and 47,000 units overall by 2031. According to the proposal, interested parties would purchase one or more properties from FHC, and obtain funding from LCF to facilitate buying and repurposing them for housing, including affordable units. Funding from LCF would come through its $25 million Social Impact Fund, which provides low-interest loans to fast-track affordable housing projects, LCF's website says. Silva said LCF's interim, friendly financing would allow the non-profits to start developing while they wait for other funding. As part of the proposal, FHC would offer the properties "as a partnership contribution, at a significant discounted price," providing a 10 per cent donation of a property's fair market value for a tax receipt, the REOI says. Further, FHC was willing to offer a "vendor take back" mortgage at 80 per cent loan-to-value of the balance for one year at zero per cent interest, the document said. Appraisals commissioned by FHC describe Market Tower and the former RBC building as shell structures suitable for renovation. Last summer, FHC floated the properties as a potential new city hall location, a proposal council rebuffed in a 10-4 vote. Both are older " Class B" buildings valued, as is, at $19.8 and $26.7 million, respectively, the documents say. The former Free Press building site is valued at nearly $38 million. Applicants would have to commit to at least 30 per cent of units at an affordable rent, the REOI says. It proposes the city provide funding through its Roadmap to 3,000 action plan. Other incentives are available, it says, including an office-to-residential conversion fund. The city is already putting up dollars for two downtown projects, including the former Rexall. FHC sold 166 Dundas St. last year, but Farhi said it had since retaken ownership, with plans to develop 32 units, "finishing what the original group that bought it started." "We've taken it back on ourselves, and we're moving forward," he said. Separately, Farhi said FHC was in the process of three conversion projects in downtown, details of which were not public yet.
