The $4-million donation for a Regent Park
cultural centre from the
Daniels Corporation—and the foundation set up by its CEO—is more significant than it may seem on the surface.
"Part of the donation has been to act as a long-term transition fund for the anchor
tenants at the facility," says Daniels VP Martin Blake of the centre now known as Daniels Spectrum. "
The Regent Park School of Music has now transitioned into this facility. It's a purpose-built facility for them, 2,000 or so square feet. They don't have the means to pay for market rent in the building."
A portion of the $4 million will fund a five-year transition for these tenants, part of a plan to ramp up their own fundraising and income generation to allow the organizations to ultimately pay the market rent themselves.
But perhaps more significantly, none of the donation had anything to do with
Section 37, the municipal regulation that trades developer density for community benefits, the source for much of the charitable-seeming work developers do in the city.
Though it's a first for Daniels, which has in the past funnelled its donations to
Second Harvest,
Habitat for Humanity Canada and the Daniels School of Architecture at the University of Toronto, it may signal a shift in developers sense of economic responsibility to the neighbourhoods they’re making their money in.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Martin Blake
Do you know of a new building going up, a business expanding or being renovated, a park in the works or even a new house being built in the neighbourhood? Please send your development news tips to [email protected].