There are still plans to redevelop this site but the townhouse plan has been cancelled. Some details are here:
http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/...housing-crisis
It's a sad article that shows just how disorganized the city and province are, and just how much the development process has been hijacked by groups like the Heritage Trust.
Phil Pacey's views as usual are absurd:
Pacey fears that if zoning is changed to allow new, taller buildings, existing affordable housing stock could be lost.
Completely backward. You do not lose affordable housing stock by upzoning vacant properties to 10 storeys and then building 120-unit affordable housing projects on them. More generally, allowing higher density causes the cost per unit to go down (increase in the housing supply) and makes it possible to house more people in the same area. As prices go up in the North End, the poorest will be pushed out. Saving some heritage houses is not going to stop that. It is dishonest to pretend that heritage preservation is about helping poor people. It's not.
...Pacey argues. "Older housing may have paid off its mortgage so the owners may be able to rent these properties for the cost of utilities, heat, maintenance and taxes."
Yeah, if I were a landlord with an expensive building on the Peninsula I'd love to rent out the odd unit to low-income residents at cost rather than waiting a few months and getting a tenant who can pay full price. The comment on mortgages being paid off is irrelevant; all that matters is the market value of the housing. Assuming he hasn't already, maybe Phil Pacey can lead the charge here by putting up somebody with a substance abuse problem in his basement.