Committee recommends construction of building for affordable housing

A 10-storey partial answer to the city’s dire shortage of affordable housing received a unanimous nod Monday night from city council’s development and heritage standing committee.

“With the number of people we have waiting to get into apartments it’s staggering and growing every day, and if we don’t do anything about it it’s going to get worse,” Coun. Ed Sleiman said, as he and committee members questioned officials from the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corp., which was seeking zone changes to allow a 145-unit affordable housing building at 3100 Meadowbrook Lane. The wait list for subsidized housing has doubled to more than 5,000 households in nine years, corporation officials said. “This is a huge, huge issue in our community and this starts to address it,” Coun. Irek Kusmierczyk said.

The proposal was criticized by about two-dozen nearby residents who signed letters expressing concerns about the height of the building (taller than any building in the area) and the 130 parking spaces planned, which is less than the 181 spaces normally required for such a project. “I’m living 200 metres from the proposed site, and I do consider the height and the (lack of parking spaces) will not benefit the neighbourhood,” said Roberta Hladik. People in Windsor use their cars, she said, noting there won’t be enough spaces in an area that already has parking problems. “If you want a 10-storey building, make an underground garage.” But officials with the housing corporation said they reviewed data from their existing affordable housing projects and are confident that 130 spaces is enough. “Typically, our residents drive a lot less in terms of having their own vehicles, that’s why we feel confident with the numbers that we have,” said director of asset management Hans Kogel, whose corporation manages 4,700 units in Windsor and Essex County, housing more than 12,000 people. He said the need for affordable housing has never been greater. Since 2008 the vacancy rate has dropped from 15 per cent to less than three per cent. Meanwhile, the average rate for rent has risen from $680 to $780 per month. Rising rental rates combined with lowered vacancy rates make it very challenging for people with low incomes to find housing, he said. In addition to the 5,000 waiting for subsidized housing, an estimated 10,000 people are looking for affordable housing, based on a recent study, he said.

The new building will have bachelor, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, with a combination of subsidized and market rates. Committee chairman Coun. Rino Bortolin said seeing the new housing project moving forward is very exciting. “We have a huge waiting list and it’ll be great to put a small dent in that,” he said.