In February 2020, Advisory Services held a panel in Toronto, ON to determine how the public and private sector can work together to unlock the necessary investments and drive sustainable retrofits of Toronto’s towers while maintaining affordability.

Aging, purpose-built rental apartment buildings are the backbone of the rental stock in Canada and are home to hundreds of thousands of households with modest and low incomes. While Toronto’s public and non-profit owned towers have made progress on deep retrofits, the goals of continued affordability and expanded investments in retrofits for housing quality and climate resilience do not align in private towers. Innovative solutions will be required to maintain affordable rents. If deep retrofits are possible with a strong return on investment (ROI), these buildings could be one of the last un-tapped real estate opportunities in a tough market.

In February 2021, panel Chair Jim Heid, Urban Green, and panelist Brad Dockser, Green Generation, spoke with Canadian Apartment Magazine about the panel’s recommendations and additional considerations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the article here.