By Mark Squibb
Mount Pearl council last week approved funding for two new housing unit complexes under the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) program.
Through the program, Ottawa provides municipalities with money to fund contractors looking to build multi-unit buildings, so long as they can complete the units within a two-year time period.
Donovan’s Homes applied for funding for two, three-storey, 12-unit apartment buildings, comprising 24 units all told, at 50-56 Dunrobin Street, while Karwood Contracting applied for funding for three apartment buildings consisting of 33 units at 166 Park Avenue.
The City’s HAF Steering Committee recommended Donovan’s Homes for $98,000 in funding and Karwood Contracting for $100,000. Council unanimously approved those amounts.
“This is exciting news,” said councillor Jim Locke. “This is in line with our strategic plan to intensify, to bring more housing and residents to the City of Mount Pearl.”
Locke said census data shows that Mount Pearl’s population has been on a decline, and needs more residents — and more housing for those residents — to increase the City’s tax base.
“The Accelerator Fund supplemented and complemented what we already had in our plan,” said Locke. “We’re on line to get a couple of hundred houses over the next two to three years, which is great news. It’s great news for building our community, but it’s certainly great news for our revenue, which we need to pay for the high-quality services that we have in our city.”
Other councillors, including Bill Antle, Isabelle Fry, and Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley, threw their support behind the motion given the current housing crisis and the number of young families, immigrants, and seniors struggling to find affordable housing.
As per the HAF terms and conditions, only applicants who have already received a development permit will be considered for funding. The City launched the program at an open-house earlier this summer. Incentives that contractors can apply for include building grants, a waiver of development fees, and pre-construction grants. Projects can receive upwards of $100,000 in funding.
