City council has given the go-ahead to the redevelopment of the former Victoria Hospital site.
Councillors voted 13-0 to approve zoning changes at 391 South St. during their meeting Tuesday.
The project — which has been designed by Toronto-based property management and real estate company Medallion — includes two proposed apartment towers, a public courtyard that connects to the river, and will allow for the preservation of the Colborne Building.
“I think it’s very good to see Medallion coming forward with this kind of application,” said Coun. Jesse Helmer.
“I think that’s all going in a very positive direction and this is just phase one of what could be multiple phases of building out a new development in this area.”
While Coun. Stephen Turner said he likes the design, he had some issues with the lack of affordable housing options.
“One of the things I really want to be cautious of as we move forward on this is rapidly gentrifying the neighbourhood,” said Turner.
“If we put a large amount of units, and very desirable units, in an area that has a diversity of housing prices, we may very quickly create a bit of a pricing monoculture within the neighbourhood and start to shift some people out of their homes that could really use their homes right now,” he said.
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Turner urged council to consider affordable housing for future projects at the South Street site.
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