cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Southern Alberta’s mid-sized cities have apparently been passed by for federal grants meant to build affordable housing projects and spur construction activity during the pandemic downturn.
This week the Lethbridge Herald broke the story that the Rapid Rehousing Fund had not approved money to a hotel into units for people transitioning out of homelessness.
A developer with connections to Medicine Hat tells the News his local proposal to convert the Cecil Hotel on N. Railway Street for the same purposes was also denied funding in grant decisions that are officially due today.
Developer Gord Koop says he had submitted applications to buy the aging historic hotel out of current receivership and convert rooms into 36 self-contained one- and two-bedroom apartments, providing up to 44 spaces.
Due to the tight timelines, that sale was set to close in late January, and he was only informed his grant – focused on a $500-million nationwide fund for renovation projects – was unsuccessful earlier this month.
He says that timeline stifles private sector developers who have to provide initial financing, produce construction plans, and get estimates for renovations.
“A lot of people put a lot of time in to get this together,” he said, stating his was the only project in southeast Alberta. He is now concerned that rural areas and mid-sized cities might be left out completely.
He said officials were helpful in the process, and he understands the need to fast-track spending, but “I just think there had to be a better way.”
“Government knows where the housing is needed,” said Koop. “They know where the problems are; so why make everyone jump through the hoops.”
In Lethbridge, the Mustard Seed had hoped to buy and repurpose the Ramada Inn into a long-term, sober, supportive housing facility.
Mustard Seed CEO Stephen Wile told the Herald that Ottawa had received $7.5 billion in applications from across the country for the $500 million Rapid Re-Housing pot available in the second half of the $1-billion housing program.
Medicine Hat Community Housing and Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation did not provide comment about Koop’s proposal.
In the new construction stream, in mid December, CMHC announced $17.3 million for the City of Edmonton to build 80 units in two new modular complexes in partnership with the group Homeward Trust.
Days later, three projects in Calgary received a total of $24.6 million towards a total of 176 units for a seniors’ residence, women fleeing domestic violence and Indigenous peoples.
Koop says his projected costs per unit were comparable or lower than those new-construction proposals, and he was in early discussions with local social housing providers to provide clients as tenants.
He says the century-old hotel is generally in solid shape, but renovations would have added construction jobs and helped to revitalize the area.
It is not likely that a zoning change would have been required to move ahead in Medicine Hat.
The Lethbridge project faced some public opposition ahead of a rezoning hearing set for February.
“We had hoped we would be one of the organizations across Canada that received the money,” said Wile, “but unfortunately it didn’t happen. While this is certainly the end of the road for this particular project at this particular time, we don’t know what the federal government is going to do in terms of increasing the availability of low-income housing for needy Canadians.”
The Mustard Seed still plans to open a new substance-free emergency shelter in downtown Lethbridge this year.
