138 Pears is a 96-unit seven-storey building that was formerly the Avenue Park Hotel. It is located near Avenue Road and Davenport in the Annex area of Toronto. On September 30th, 2004, St. Clare's purchased the building and converted it into affordable housing. Tenants referred by St. Clare's partner agencies started moving in December, 2004. The bachelor apartments have kitchens, full bathrooms and spacious balconies. It is an ideal building to provide housing for people currently living in shelters.
138 Pears
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typical unit
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Regeneration of 138 Pears
Since acquiring 138 Pears, St. Clare's has made significant improvements to the building including updating the entire fire/life safety system, renovating the bathrooms, replacing the hot water plumbing, and replacing the hallway flooring.
Currently the building is having the south-facing balconies enclosed. Not only will the wall system improve the appearance of the building, but it will replace inefficient single glazed windows with low-e double paned windows. The new wall will eliminate the need for ongoing costly concrete repairs and will prevent heat loss through the concrete slab making the building much greener. The work will increase the size of the apartments and includes replacing the radiators as well as other upgrades that will improve the livability of the apartments.
Capital funding for the project was provided by CMHC's Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP), the City of Toronto and St. Clare's. Work started on March 1, 2010 and will be finished by the end of June 2010.
