Jamesville revamp aims to make 15% of units affordable
Developers hoping to build a mixed-income complex in the North End should plan on setting 15 per cent of their plans aside for affordable homes.
That will be one of the key benchmarks in a request for proposals the city plans to issue for Jamesville by the end of March.
The detail is noted in a public version of a CityHousing Hamilton board report released Wednesday.
If applicants exceed the 15 per cent mark, they will be “credited” in the evaluation process, CEO Tom Hunter said.
“Our intention is to optimize the amount of affordable housing on this site.”
CityHousing has been moving residents out of the 91 rentgeared-to-income townhouses to prepare the site for the redevelopment. Hunter said there’s no fixed date for demolition.
The plan is to sell the 5.4-acre parcel between James and MacNab Street North to a private developer who will build a mixedincome community with a “spectrum” of affordability.
The maximum number of units in the higher-density redevelopment is to be 650.
That will include the 46 social housing units — rent geared to income — CityHousing plans to retain and own on the site. Those are to be roughly 7 per cent of all units.
(The other 45 social housing units are to be reallocated to a future CityHousing building on Bay and Cannon streets.)
Another 8 per cent of the future Jamesville, depending on the final unit count, “would ideally (but not mandatorily)” be affordable private market units, the CityHousing board report says.
The city defines affordable as “at or below” 125 per cent of average market rent, or 10 per cent below the median resale price of a home.
One builder interested in the Jamesville, Indwell, says it would aim for deeper affordability.
The need for lower-cost options in the North End is increasing, not decreasing, Graham Cubitt, director of projects and development, said Wednesday.
“Our original position in the expression of interest is that we wanted to do far more than what is currently on the site.”
In 2017, the Christian nonprofit housing provider proposed 150 affordable units to replace the existing 91, along with 250 market units.
Indwell welcomes potential partners and will be ready to submit a proposal in March, Cubitt said.
Indwell has built a number of affordable, assisted-living buildings in Hamilton, including the Rudy Hulst Commons and Parkdale Landing in the east end.
The redevelopment of Jamesville — which was built about 50 years ago — marks a departure for CityHousing as it pursues denser, integrated, mixed-income communities.
Selling sites to private developers is also part of the city agency’s strategy to leverage its assets amid a costly repair backlog and lengthy wait list.
“It’s not only what’s new, but it’s about maintaining what we currently have. Both needs are not being met, and that’s a system-wide issue,” Hunter said.