**3.3 Social synergy**

Many obsolete historic buildings are found in or in close proximity to city centres [6]. In many Canadian cities, the majority of historic buildings are located in city centres: approximately 90% in Toronto, 82% in Calgary and 45% in Vancouver. Downtown revitalisation efforts have resulted in the concentration of jobs, retail and good access to public transit services. Similarly, public services that provide support to low-income and homeless people such as food banks, housing help centres and social services providers are heavily concentrated in downtowns of major Canadian cities.

Inner-city neighbourhoods have been plagued by non-descript high-rise towers and unwelcoming 'projects' that were a manifestation of the misguided urban renewal initiative [2]. The most successful neighbourhood revitalisation efforts were attributed to the retention and reinvestment in the historic fabric of the neighbourhood, retaining its

legible urban blocks, walkability and gentle density. The recognition of the character and quality of historic buildings and their adaptive reuse further contributed to the legacy of the place and its uniqueness. The scale and unique architecture of historic buildings make them ideal for conversion to mixed-income housing with a low-income component [14, 18]. Leveraging this synergy provides an effective method to address one of the housing market inefficiencies—the inability to effectively allocate land to various actors based on needs rather than financial capacity. As such, converting historic buildings into affordable housing through adaptive reuse provides access for low-income groups to cultural heritage resources and high-quality environments (see **Box 3**).

Coxwell Stables in Toronto is an example of a small-scale adaptive reuse project. Originally built in 1919 for the horses that pulled the Toronto Public Works Department vehicles, the site was designated by the Toronto Historical Board in 1981, and was bought by the City of Toronto's non-profit housing corporation (Leslieville Historical Society, 2020). The adaptive reuse of Coxwell Stables provided 11 affordable housing units while retaining the historic character of the building. The cost per unit was less than \$100,000 and the project received financial support from the provincial affordable housing programs and local government grants for historic places [22]. *Coxwell Stables Redevelopment*

## **Box 3.** *Coxwell stables in Toronto.*

Existing neighbourhoods with obsolete historic buildings often have lower property values. Adaptive reuse is contributing to the effective redevelopment of existing assets but can provide affordable housing opportunities to target groups that might not be able to find a suitable alternative in the mainstream housing market. Singleperson households and people with special needs might benefit from the locational advantages of downtown services, transit and jobs (see **Box 4**). The rehabilitation of the underutilised buildings will help revitalise the immediate neighbourhood and

The Heritage block at 18 West Hastings Street in Vancouver is a six-storey brick Edwardian building built in 1909. Renovated by Reliance Properties and ITC Construction Group it provides 30 suites in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside with the concept of contemporary "micro-loft". lt has the smallest self-contained rental apartments of approximately 270 square feet for single people. The adaptive reuse project deploys unique design strategies to retain character-defining elements and the integrity of the built structure, while providing flexible layouts and floor plans for the affordable housing units [23].

*Perspective Chapter: Reimaging Affordable Housing through Adaptive Reuse of Built Heritage DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110072*

generally receives less opposition from the local community as any use is better than abandonment. This is especially helpful for affordable housing projects, which usually receive high level of pushback from the local residents [24].
