The City of Toronto has announced the start of construction of a new purpose-built rental project.

The development, which is a partnership between the city, CreateTO and Collecdev-Markee, will deliver a total of 494 new rental homes including 148 affordable rental homes.

Formerly home to a Toronto Water office building, the project at 275 Merton Street repurposes city-owned land to build new housing.

This site is one of almost 100 owned by the city that are either housing ready or may be unlocked for new housing.

“The City of Toronto is investing more than $8 million dollars and leveraging city owned land to build more affordable homes for Torontonians,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “We are pleased to partner with CreateTO and Collecdev-Markee to break ground on 494 new rental homes including 148 affordable homes.”

The new homes on Merton Street will be a mix of unit types including family-sized two- and three-bedroom homes. One third of the new rental homes will be affordable for households earning a range of incomes.

The development is part of the City’s HousingTO Plan that intends to deliver 65,000 new rent-controlled homes including 41,000 affordable rental, 6,500 rent-geared-to-income and 17,500 rent-controlled homes by 2030.