Tiny alley home ready for tenant
Developers plan to build more affordable rental houses to meet growing demand
Two young business partners are moving forward on building four more tiny homes, after recently completing their first one off an alley behind Assumption Street.
The house is one of the city's first detached additional dwelling units (ADU), which became easier to build on properties that already have a primary residence, since city council approved its secondary suites policy in 2018. In this case, Clarke Gallie and Nate Schaly purchased the home at 773 Assumption, rented it out to good tenants, then built the ADU in the backyard, fronting on the alley.
“We've got nice 10-foot ceilings in the kitchen and living room, we've got two bedrooms, a nice washroom and your own private backyard,” Gallie said Friday of their finished product, which they say is finished with such high-end features as stone countertops and custom kitchen cabinets, thanks to partnerships with local companies.
“We met a lot of great people and everyone we worked with we were very satisfied with,” said Gallie.
They're holding an open house
Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. to land a tenant. Rent is $1,395 a month.
“We really cater to folks who might be in an apartment and would like a house of their own,” said Schaly. “But the average house is not 600 square feet or 700 square feet, it's much larger and a lot of times it's overkill.”
Their house is 598 square feet, which is bigger than a typical “tiny home,” but quite small for a house. They say its designed to make maximum use of space.
“With this, we can get people out of their apartments for marginally more money (than what they were paying), get their own parking, their own backyard, easier to have pets,” said Schaly.
The partners view their tiny house strategy as a way to respond to the dire rental-housing shortage and help transform core areas into “great neighbourhoods.” Last spring, they were the first local builders to get a permit for a detached ADU.
Public school board trustee Sarah Cipkar wasn't far behind. She completed her ADU in her downtown backyard last week.
Gallie and Schaly plan to build many more ADUS as rental properties. They've purchased a building lot in Ford City and intend to build a small primary residence in front and an ADU in the back.
They're also applying for a severance to create a new building lot where they hope to build two more homes in the same manner.