By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Christian charity Indwell isn’t in business to make money.
That’s the word from Graham Cubitt in response to a recent headline in The Voice surmising the agency turned a $400,000 profit when it sold the former St. Agnes School to Chatham-Kent for just over $1 million.
Cubitt, president of Flourish representing the real estate arm of Indwell, said the purchase price only covered what the non-profit has spent on the property since buying it from the Catholic school board for $635,000 in 2021.
“We literally tallied up what we spent,” Cubitt explained in a telephone interview. “We are a public benefit agency and they (the municipality) are a public benefit agency. We sold it for what we had invested.”
Over the past three years, Cubitt said Indwell has spent money on security, building maintenance, groundskeeping, architect fees, planning fees and lawyer’s fees to keep up the Croyden Street property.
A significant sum was also spent dealing with an Ontario Land Tribunal challenge brought forward by a neighbour of the property in an attempt to stop the supportive housing development.
However, the OLT ruled that the challenge posed by a local resident was not a legitimate planning challenge.
Indwell is one of Ontario’s largest suppliers of supportive housing and has gained a solid reputation throughout the province, with many cities lobbying for their services. The organization has partnered with seven different municipalities, creating supportive housing spaces by renovating older buildings as well as new builds.
The decision to purchase the school was made by Chatham-Kent council Aug. 12 in a 10-7 vote. Many of the councillors were upset with the increased cost of the property, despite being assured by administration the non-profit wasn’t making money on the sale.
Indwell has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with Chatham-Kent, with the intention of collaborating on future projects.
Plans by Indwell to develop a large-scale supportive housing development at the former St. Agnes School were derailed in the spring of 2023 after an application for a federal funding grant was turned down.
