Former Mattamy Homes executive Brian Johnston warns, however, that achieving Mayor John Tory’s targets won’t be easy
Brian Johnston, the new CEO of CreateTO, seen here on Feb. 11, 2019, says success in his new job will be measured by how much affordable housing the city manages to build.The new CEO of Toronto’s centralized real estate agency, CreateTO, says success in his new job will be measured by just one yardstick: how much affordable housing the city manages to build.
And Mr. Johnston, who retired as chief operating officer for mammoth builder Mattamy Homes last year, says it remains to be seen how developers will respond to the city’s Housing Now plan, which offers incentives but demands that at least a third of the units built must be classified as affordable. Another challenge he says, will be finding even more surplus city land to meet Mr. Tory’s goal. The first 11 sites, he says, were the easy ones, as they include some valuable commuter parking lots near transit stations: “This was picking up gold coins off the floor. As time goes on, it’ll get a little more difficult.”Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The agency’s mission differs from that of its predecessor, BuildTO, which aimed to sell off surplus land to bring in revenue: CreateTO has a broader mandate to achieve other city policy objectives, such as producing affordable housing. And the sheer size of its remit means it dwarfs even Mattamy, North America’s largest privately owned home builder, Mr. Johnston said. At any time, Mattamy has just a few hundred properties in its stable – a fraction of the city’s portfolio of 8,400.
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