A 72-unit affordable housing development is in the works at 199 Westcourt Boulevard in Wallaceburg.
Municipality of Chatham-Kent Council approved a series of recommendations by staff at their August 12, 2024 Council meeting, including directing administration to issue a request for proposal for the full design and engineering services for the development.
Here is a full list of the approved recommendations:
“On January 22, 2024, administration received an email regarding COCHI Residual 2023-24: Opportunity for business case submission that was due for submission by February 5, 2024, by 5 p.m.,” said Ray Harper, director of municipal housing development, in a report.
“This was an opportunity to enable the Municipality of Chatham-Kent to submit one top priority project with a funding cap of $5 million dollars for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH)’s consideration of COCHI Residual funding allocation for 2023-24. Business cases had to be for construction-ready/repair-ready priority projects where funding can be committed within the 2023-24 fiscal year.”
Harper added: “After reviewing the details of the funding opportunity, Administration determined the 55 Minnie Street, Wallaceburg project would be the best choice to select for the business case at the time to enable maximizing the grant funding opportunity. A pre-design, feasibility, and costing process had already been completed for a three-storey 43-unit and four-storey 58-unit build options. On March 6, 2024, Administration received notice from MMAH that the business case submission was approved for an amount of $4,074,560.”
However, upon further review of existing surrounding infrastructure during the servicing review process, it was determined that 55 Minnie Street is anticipated to need major improvements to the surrounding underground facilities (water, wastewater, and storm water) to facilitate this development, estimated to cost up to $7-milion, Harper said.
“Engineering staff would also be required to prioritize these infrastructure improvements over other scheduled projects in 2025-2026 to ensure completion of this project as per the COCHI funding agreement,” he wrote.
“Due to infrastructure funding, resources, and time constraints, as well as the 199 Westcourt Boulevard, Wallaceburg project further in the development process, Administration decided to contact MMAH to review using this funding towards the 72-unit Westcourt project instead of the Minnie Street project. New additional information, such as development timelines and recommendations outlined in this report, have been provided to MMAH for their review of Administration’s request to reassign these funds.
Harper added: “Administration expects to receive final MMAH approval for this change request soon.”
Read the full report, here.
