Local community group One Thorold wants to partner with Bethlehem Housing and Support Services, to realize their dream of building an affordable housing project on St. David St. East in Thorold.
To get the ball rolling, they would like to enter a lease agreement with the City of Thorold, who owns the plot of land.
There’s just one problem, City Hall does not think it’s a good idea.
“Considering the potential risks to the City and the lack of detailed information available to Council at this time, it is recommended that Council not enter into a lease-agreement with any outside parties for the purpose of providing housing,” reads a City Hall report on the matter.
During Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, One Thorold member Bill Vanderklippe gave a presentation to try and change Council’s mind.
“We’re not asking the City of Thorold to get into the housing business,” he said. “Rather, we’re asking the city to facilitate, to partner with those who already have a track record of doing so, in dealing with these housing issues.”
Bethlehem Housing is interested in coming on board with the project, but there needs to be a plot of land in place before anything can be put to paper.
“In order to proceed with lining up financial supporters, to proceed with construction partners, to proceed with applying for and acquiring grants, we need a property, we need a partnership with a local municipal government,” Vanderklippe said.
It is One Thorold’s intent to build an apartment complex with 40 to 60 units, and support services on site, but without a business plan or financials in place, the City is hesitant to commit to the project.
“Staff sought legal assistance regarding a potential lease agreement and were advised that although a lease agreement is possible it is difficult to draft an agreement that will protect the interests of the municipality without having further details about the proposal such as a business plan,” reads the City Hall report.
Lori Beech, who is the executive director of Bethlehem Housing and Support Services, also took to the podium on Tuesday night to answer questions.
She assured council members that the not-for-profit already has similar lease agreements in place with other municipalities.
“We have long term leases and been involved in every one of our builds that has partnership agreements with not only the municipal governments, the City of St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, but also with the Region,” she said.
While Bethlehem is pushing for a lease agreement, there are other options as well, such as gifting or selling the plot of land at a discount.
“We’ve been encouraging [leasing] because of the opportunity to absorb the capital side of the costs,” said Beech. “We have no ability to buy, build and develop on our own. This is not an easy thing to take on. It’s becoming harder and harder.”
To put together a budget for the project, a plot of land needs to be secured first.
“That’s an exercise you would go through once you have the property and you are able to conduct all the appropriate studies and feasibility studies,” Beech said.
City Council eventually moved into closed session to receive advice on the matter from the city’s legal counsel.
When they returned, Council directed staff to review the municipal building and land inventory to identify under utilized assets or assets that may be considered as a surplus, and they also ordered a review of the city’s policy on the disposition of property.
While it is unclear where this leaves One Thorold’s request, it seems unlikely that the project is moving forward at this time.