Hamilton opens 82 affordable housing units, thousands on waitlist

The City of Hamilton opened 82 units of affordable, near-net-zero community-focused housing Monday, with more than 6,000 people on the city’s access to housing wait-list.

One building at 55 Queenston Road which will have 20 rent-geared-to-income units, and another 20 moderately affordable units.

The second building at 1620 Main St. East will offer 42 units.

The 82 units will have a mix of: one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom units, with 20 per cent that are accessible homes as well.

“These represent a significant milestone for us at CityHousing,” said Adam Sweedland with CityHousing Hamilton. “Hamilton adding 82 homes to the 79 we have done in the last 12 months, brings us to 261 in the last 12 months. And, by the way, the 264 in two-and-a-half years.”

A three bedroom unit, which would be the most expensive, sits at a market rent value of $1,460, but tenants would pay substantially less based on their income.

“Hamilton has partnered with Camino Auto – the membership bond and the first year membership fees for a resident in this building will be covered,” said Nrinder Nann, the president of the CityHousing Hamilton board. “Bike Share Hamilton: each household will receive two free one-year memberships.”

The announcement comes after another affordable housing project in the city is seeing some progress.

Just last week, Ontario’s housing minister posted a minister’s zoning order (MZO) request for 405 James St. North on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The province is seeking feedback on the proposal from the community for about a month.

“The MZO, when signed by the minister, which will be in about 30 days or so, will open up the opportunity to start building on that site, and build over 600 new units,” said Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath. “Some will be affordable housing with partners in the private sector, some will be stacked townhouses and some will be mid-rise buildings.”

Nann adds that they are working on bringing more affordable housing projects.

The CityHousing Hamilton board is working on a new development strategy, but it still needs to be accepted by Hamilton City Council.

“We’ve been taking a deep dive, looking at the entire portfolio of the over 7,000 units in CityHousing Hamilton’s portfolio, looking at the land sites of each of them, and making decisions,” said Nann, “about, like this one, ‘can we leverage the site for more buildings?’.”

Another thing to note is that the ground floor of 55 Queenston Road will be home to a future childcare centre, operated by YWCA Hamilton.

It will bring 26 licensed, childcare spaces to the neighbourhood.

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