The city of Toronto plans to resume the clearing of outdoor encampments for the homeless — something the city stopped doing during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic but is restarting because the dwellings have since grown and are raising concerns about potential spread of the virus.

“(The encampments) have begun to raise serious public health concerns about the risk of COVID-19 spreading in these large groups where there is often no physical distancing,” Toronto Mayor John Tory told a news briefing Wednesday afternoon.

But the city has a plan.

Rather than simply kicking homeless people out of these outdoor dwellings and leaving them to find someplace else to live, eat and sleep, Tory announced an agreement with a local property developer to make 125 residential units in two midtown apartment buildings slated for demolition available to the city for homeless people during the pandemic.

The spaces are temporary, with meals served, round-the-clock staff support and case management focused on finding residents permanent housing.

“Access to these units will be prioritized for people in encampments that have health and safety concerns and are at high risk of COVID-19,” Tory told reporters. “Our goal is to house people and as we succeed … encampments will be cleared by city staff.”

Mary-Anne Bedard, general manager of the city’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA), told the Star the focus will be on approaching people in the encampments and offering them housing.

“Once people accept, they move with their possessions and anything remaining is cleaned up. Today (Wednesday) we worked with five encampments along the Lakeshore.

“Our teams will continue to engage and offer a range of options to anyone who remains” in the encampments, Bedard said.

Her department works with the city’s parks and recreation or transportation department, depending on which public property the encampments are on.

Teams assess the sites and the people who remain, and if there is a risk, police are called to assist.

Meanwhile, the Times Group Corporation, the owner of the two adjoining four-storey buildings near Yonge and Eglinton, is leasing them to the city for three to six months or longer for $55 a night per unit which includes operating costs and utilities. The residents will have their own kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Some homeless people have already moved in.

The developer has pledged to donate the net proceeds — in the neighbourhood of $500,000 — from the lease to Toronto food banks.

“Our partnership with the city at this unprecedented time in history enables us to provide living space for the most vulnerable when it is needed most,” Hashem Ghadaki, president of the Times Group Corporation said in a statement.

He operates the company with partners Mohammad Ghadaki, Ali Mesgarzadeh and Saeid Aghaei.

“Speaking for my partners and our entire staff, we feel it’s our duty as citizens to help, “ Ghadaki added, referring to the donation and provision of living space.

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The city is leasing a number of hotels and private property in Toronto to provide appropriate social distancing space for the city’s homeless residents. The space in existing shelters in the city is insufficient for social distancing.

Other services the city is providing the homeless during the COVID-19 outbreak are recovery sites for those who test positive for the virus and an isolation facility for homeless people awaiting results of their COVID-19 tests.

The new midtown shelter isn’t for COVID-positive homeless people, but rather it is a facility for them to self-isolate. Residents will be screened regularly for the virus.

“Ending chronic homelessness is not a slogan, it’s possible. Everyone deserves to have a safe and affordable home and access to services that help individuals achieve housing stability. The fact is we need a range of housing options that meet the different and unique needs of people experiencing homelessness,” city councillor Joe Cressy, chair of Toronto’s Board of Health, said in a statement Wednesday.

The Times Group acquired the property in 2015 and planned to redevelop it into condos. An application to demolish the two buildings was approved by the city in 2018. Last September, tenants in the building were asked to vacate, and in April the last of the tenants had left.

But the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent government orders that non-essential businesses cease operating put a hold on the demolition, explains Hessam Ghadaki, general counsel for the developer.

He said the company was inspired to lease the property for a shelter after seeing health-care workers doing an incredible job during the crisis and other businesses stepping up to help.

“This is something we’re doing that we’re really proud of,” Hessam Ghadaki added. The Times Group is a company founded in 1985 by civil engineers. The four business partners running the Times Group are all immigrants who fled turmoil in Iran in the 1980s.

The idea of turning the apartments into shelters for the homeless grew from discussions in March between the developer and the University Health Network, a network that includes the Toronto General and Toronto Western hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

UHN, which helped launch another COVID-related initiative to help the homeless — the recovery centre in Toronto’s west end — also co-ordinated the lease between the Times Group and the city.

“Homelessness and health are inextricably linked, even more so in a pandemic. UHN has been advocating to put housing first, both to better protect individuals in this crisis and as a lasting measure post-recovery,” said Dr. Andrew Boozary, UHN’s executive director, health and social policy.

This is the second time the city has partnered with the Times Group. In 2018, the developer provided a 90,000 sq.ft. building to the city, now the Willowdale Welcome Centre, a 400-bed shelter for refugees.

The Willowdale Welcome Centre, on Yonge St. north of Finch Ave., opened after the developers saw a notice from the city seeking a location for a temporary refugee shelter. The building was a decommissioned Toronto Hydro facility the developers had purchased for $122.5 million. Unfortunately, it has become the location of a significant COVID-19 outbreak.

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