Thursday, October 2, 2025
The City of Toronto celebrated the opening of 770 homes in the reimagined Don Summerville community, located at 1070 Eastern Ave.
The result of an innovative five-year revitalization plan led by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), Don Summerville is a mixed-income, mixed-tenure housing community that sets the bar for new housing developments in Toronto. The project also contributes to the City’s HousingTO target of approving 65,000 rent-controlled and affordable homes by 2030.
“Soon residents will start moving into the newly revitalized Don Summerville community that is home to 780 mixed income, mixed tenure new homes. Don Summerville was created through the strong partnership from the City of Toronto, TCHC and private partners to deliver more affordable housing for Torontonians. Every Torontonian deserves to live in a home that they’re proud of, and in a neighbourhood where they can thrive, like the future residents of Don Summerville will. This community is a model of what we can achieve across the City, and we will continue identifying communities and opportunities where we can do the same,” said Mayor Olivia Chow.
The 3.3-acre site in Leslieville was once home to two 60-unit TCHC rent-geared-to-income (RGI) buildings. With strong partnership between the City, TCHC and private developers, the revitalization of the former TCHC community was reimagined into a mixed-use housing development for residents of all income levels.
Built with partners, RioCan and Context Development, this new mixed tenure, mixed-income community includes three new buildings with 120 RGI homes, 100 affordable rental homes, 183 market rental homes and 367 condominium units. Integrated in the community is 16,000 square feet of new retail space, paving the way for businesses, jobs and amenities that will shape the development into a complete community. The community will also include a Privately Owned Public Space – or POP – which will offer a dedicated space open space that the public is welcome to enjoy.
“I’m excited to welcome Toronto Community Housing tenants back into Don Summerville, as well as the new market rental tenants and condo owners that they’ll live alongside. As a result of this revitalization, TCHC and the City have been able to create more than six times more homes on this site than originally existed. Together, we can continue to produce results like these, building more affordable and social housing all across Toronto that welcomes people home,” said Sean Baird, TCHC president and CEO .
The Don Summerville community is located in the Leslieville neighbourhood in east Toronto, steps away from Lake Ontario and the Martin Goodman Trail, and with quick, easy access to transit on the TTC’s 501 streetcars and Coxwell Avenue buses.
Within the market rental and condo buildings, there are 82 affordable homes including:
50 affordable homes that will house women and their families through a partnership between the developer and local community agencies.
32 co-operative homes, including 17 RGI and 15 affordable homes, with some units allocated for artists.
“The work on the Don Summerville community was very compelling from a builder’s standpoint. We were able to maximize the footprint of two old buildings and a whole lot of unused space to build a new community for hundreds of families that includes affordable rental, market condominiums and rentals, and co-op housing options, all situated within dynamic architecture that honours the Queen Street streetscape while overlooking Ashbridges Bay. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved here and proud of the partnership we have with TCHC and RioCan,” said Howard Cohen, Principle, Context Development .
Featured image: (City of Toronto)
