Cherry and Main affordable housing still has a downtown home – for now

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Taber and District Housing Foundation is still trying to get traction on its Cherry & Main proposed affordable housing project. Tim Janzen, CAO of the foundation, appeared as a delegation at a Sept. 9 regular meeting of town council and asked council to approve that lots 18 to 28 be reserved through next year. TDHF is awaiting the results of the 2025 Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation grant funding application for the project, and the next steps are contingent upon one-third of the project costs being provided from the CMHC.

 The project is projected to be a three-story building with 22 affordable housing units, seven of which are studios and 15 of which are one-bedrooms. In addition, 11 market housing units – seven one-bedroom and four two-bedroom – are also part of the plan. The building will house TDHF in about 1,500 square feet of office space, from which the foundation will provide on-site management and support services. TDHF wants to build a total of a minimum of 33 living spaces with 50 parking stalls in off-street parking.

 “The goal is to provide mixed market housing to the community at very affordable rates,” the council meeting agenda said. Rents would range from $650 (studio) to $1,200 (market two-room) per month. The proposed design includes durable low maintenance materials to reduce future maintenance and replacement costs. It will incorporate an energy efficient building structure to reduce long-term operating costs and impact on the environment.

 The total cost of construction is estimated at $8.55 million. “We were considerably higher than that with the previous design,” Janzen told council. In the past two years, TDHF made applications for funding through both the Province and CMHC, but those were unsuccessful. In the spring of 2024, TDHF set out to draft a new design for the project that would be more economically viable. With the help of a group from Coaldale, TDHF came to a more compact design that would still achieve its goal.

 Janzen appeared before the council with a land request. He said the foundation intends to re-apply for funding through various agencies, but, “The hard part for these programs is you have to have land. If you don’t have land, you don’t apply. So, there really is no point in making an application without a property to tie to.”

 “Our hope is that the council continues to recognize the dire situation, particularly around affordable housing. While there are housing projects being built, which is great, they’re really not affordable. The advertised rates for these new constructions are $1,800 for a two bedroom. That’s before utilities. That’s not affordable to individuals that are working at minimum wage or working less than full-time hours. In fact, I did the math; it’s not affordable for two people working full-time. You’ll pay more than 30 per cent of your income to housing if that’s what you’re paying.”

 Janzen said that though funding is available through avenues like the Affordable Housing Partnership, during the last application cycle over $600 million in projects were competing for an available $56 million in funding. “Even if you have a great project, it takes time to get approved,” he said. With that in mind, he asked the council to again provide the real estate at 54 St. and 47 Ave. for the project to move forward. He also asked for time and patience to see the process through over several application cycles as necessary.

 Coun. Firth acknowledged the value of such a project, but said that as the stewards of town land, council couldn’t necessarily hold on to it knowing that there were no guarantees the project would come to fruition. “In a perfect world the approval would come through, we’d have the land, the project would be built,” she said.

 Janzen said that without alignment between the foundation and the municipality, the Province would have an “easy out” for disqualifying the application. Coun. Sorensen said, “I sympathize with you because the town council has committed some land to you and I think we should honour that, especially when you’ve come to us with a more affordable project. I do agree it can’t be a commitment that’s forever. Hopefully all the stars align. I do know that there’s a huge need in our community for this and I wish you success in this project.”

 Coun. Brewin suggested that the project should be relocated, perhaps to the Meadows area, but Janzen said the downtown location was conceptualized for its proximity to amenities, many of which could be accessed without a vehicle. Sorensen asked Janzen if the application process would be further stalled by a switch in the land location.

 “Yeah, we need to identify a specific property,” he said. “So, until that was settled…that would take some time. And the worst part is the cost.” He said it’s easy to drop $100,000 into site assessments etc. “That’s not even a design. That would become a bit of a barrier. We designed this building for a very specific lot. Maybe it fits onto another lot somewhere, but we’d have to spend the time to make sure.”

 Coun. McLean, who listened during the discussion, initiated a motion for council to approve the allocation of lots 18 to 28, Block 5, Plan 5638L, to be reserved until the results of the 2025 CMHC grant funding application for the Cherry & Main affordable housing project contingent on one-third of the project costs being provided from the CMHC grant approval. The motion was carried.