A $30.9-million affordable housing project in Wallaceburg is officially underway following a groundbreaking ceremony last week.
The five-storey apartment building will be located at 199 Westcourt Blvd., adjacent to the current West Court complex and will consist of 50 affordable and 22 market-rate units, with 20 per cent of the units being accessible. The units will range from one to four bedrooms in size.
Matthew Rae, Parliamentary Assistant in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, was on hand for the ceremony, which was also attended by Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault, Mayor Darrin Canniff and other municipal officials.
Rae lauded the co-operation between provincial, federal and municipal governments in bringing the project forward to meet what he called housing “affordability challenges in rural Ontario.”
Canniff echoed that statement, noting that “we wouldn’t be here today without the assistance of senior levels of government.
“Whether it’s a senior looking to age in place, a young family starting or someone simply looking for a safe, affordable place to call home … increasing our supply of affordable housing is one of our highest priorities. Growth is only successful when people of all income levels have access to quality housing,” he said.
Pinsonneault said housing was an issue during his term as a Chatham-Kent councillor and remains a need across the province.
“We need to ensure people have safe, affordable, and quality places they can call home,” he said.
The $6.8 million in federal and provincial funding was announced during the event. After including other grants and funds from its new construction reserve, council unanimously approved borrowing $13 million over 30 years to finance the remainder of the cost.
When completed in two years, the project is intended to operate on a cost-neutral basis.
Chatham-Kent municipal housing director Ray Harper said seeing work beginning on the project is a large step forward.
“I see the need for affordable housing every day,” he said. “We’re always working on several initiatives, but seeing this taking place shows what we can do for Wallaceburg and all of Chatham-Kent.”
According to a report submitted to council in May, there has been no new community housing built in Wallaceburg since funding was provided through the Ontario Housing Corporation in the 1980s.
Chatham-Kent’s centralized waiting list of households in need of affordable housing stands at 1,455. At present, 23 per cent or at least 333 of the 1,455 current households on the waiting list are looking for units in Wallaceburg.
