Parking lot eyed for daycare and affordable housing in Brampton

An unused Brampton parking lot could be transformed into an affordable housing project.

The City of Brampton was considering selling off an unused city parking lot on the northwest corner of Don Minaker Drive and Ebenezer Road in the city’s east end.

Little Galaxy Childcare and Montessori asked if the city would consider selling the .90 acre property to build a childcare centre. The Committee of Council was to vote today (May 10) to declare the land surplus and sell it.

But two people came forward and asked that the city reconsider.

The property could be used for affordable housing, said Daphna Nussbaum, program coordinator and analyst with the Peel Alliance to End Homelessness.

“The close proximity of this area to major transit schools and recreation means the site is an excellent candidate for mixed-income or family-style housing,” Nussbaum said at the Committee of Council meeting today (May 10).

Affordable rental housing is out of reach for low income and unsheltered individuals and families, she added. More than 28,000 people are on the centralized housing list and shelters are overflowing in Peel

“We have a major homelessness crisis in this region, as well as an affordable housing crisis,” Nussbaum said.

Brampton resident Sylvia Roberts said there could be a chance to develop housing for families.

“This location offers a great opportunity for larger family-sized units,” said Roberts.

Although there is a daycare interested in building on the property, there could be both, Roberts suggested.

“Having high-density housing and having a daycare are not mutually exclusive, it is entirely possible to put a daycare on the ground floor of a high rise,” Roberts said.