Additional affordable housing units not possible for Sunrise Villa restoration

Insurance will cover remediation and restoration of Burford seniors’ building following blaze in January

A Burford seniors’ residence that caught fire earlier this year will have its 12 rent-geared-to-income units restored, but no additional units will be added.

The Jan. 13 fire displaced 11 tenants at Sunrise Villa, and caused extensive damage to two units, according to a staff report shared with the Brant and Brantford Local Housing Corporation board of directors. Staff recommended complete restoration of the building, which is covered by the $1.1-million insurance policy. Insurance would provide around half that amount to demolish and rebuild.

The building will also require remediation due to asbestos-contaminated smoke spreading through the attic spaces of both building wings during firefighting efforts, the report said. At a meeting of the board of directors on Wednesday, Coun. David Miller expressed disappointment that they couldn’t use the opportunity to do “something more” with 11 Park Ave.

Sunrise Villa was built in 1969, and provides rent-geared-to-income seniors’ housing, owned by the Brant and Brantford Local Housing Corporation.

There are just over 1,000 households on the centralized wait-list for affordable housing, and seniors can currently expect a wait of around three to five years, according to the Brantford-Brant centralized housing wait-list annual update presented in February.

Nine of the tenants displaced by the fire were moved to vacant units in other city-owned buildings, and

two moved in with friends or family. Only four have expressed a desire to return to Sunrise Villa once restoration work is complete — something Miller expressed surprise over.

Mary Musson, Brantford’s director of housing and homelessness, told the board many of the tenants indicated their temporary accommodations were “an improvement in their circumstances,” citing the example of one tenant who receives more support at her new space.

Musson noted families on the waiting list will have the opportunity to move into Sunrise Villa should the current tenants choose not to return.

While there’s no estimated timeline for completion of the restoration, Musson noted they expect to have a better idea soon.