Newmarket gives $2.6M fee break to Deerfield Road affordable rental project

The Town of Newmarket has agreed to give a boost to the large-scale residential development at 175 Deerfield Rd., with more affordable units coming in the final stage of the project.

Developer Rose Corporation will receive approximately $2.6 million in development charge fee deferrals for the third phase of a 10-floor rental building at 200 Deerfield Rd., with 46 affordable rental units out of 175 overall, at Davis Drive and Yonge Street.

Mayor John Taylor said the community is growing and it is important to provide more housing options using incentives. 

"200 Deerfield Rd. will help fill the gap in our housing mix and hopefully encourage more developments like this in the future," Taylor said. "The town recognizes the need for rental housing and as a result, we have changed our policies to incentivize the development of condominiums and rental units in partnership with York Region.”

The municipality will still eventually get the $2.6 million according to planning staff, but that could be deferred for up to 20 years, aligned with a formalized regional program. Interest will be charged, but will be forgiven if charges are paid as agreed. 

The large-scale housing development project at 175 Deerfield Rd. features 500 units on a 4.4-acre site that includes townhomes, condos and two high-density purpose-built rental apartment buildings.

Staff reported to council in June that it was not previously certain that later stages of the development would include affordable units. Councillor Bob Kwapis said it is a similar package as was offered to the rental apartments at 212 Davis Dr.

“I definitely look forward to more affordable housing within Newmarket,” Kwapis said. “This is a really good step forward.”

The package also includes deferring up to 50 per cent of any municipal administrative fees for up to four years, though staff said this is not expected to be a significant amount compared to development charges.

Construction is underway on the first and second phases of the facility, which also feature purpose-built and affordable rental apartments. In total, the development features three towers with roughly 500 units. The town also provided deferral incentives to previous stages of the project.

Taylor said although some see affordable rental rates as high, the model is important to the housing picture. He said having more rental housing supply can help maintain, or even decrease, rental rates in the future.

“We’re going to have such an undersupply of rental housing,” Taylor said. “Many communities are going to be left extremely short.”

Town staff are still reviewing the site plan application for the third stage of the development.