Saskatoon Construction III

[Leadly]

Exciting news for Saskatoon's east side! Campioni Housing and Sasknative Rental are developing 'Campioni Commons', a new community with:

- 120 affordable housing units, focused on large family-friendly spaces.
- On-site wrap-around supports to help residents thrive.
- Community amenities like a rooftop garden, daycare spaces, and shared green areas.
- Sustainable design with solar panels and energy-efficient materials.

This project aligns with the City's Official Community Plan, enhancing affordable housing options in the Lakewood neighborhood. Located near parks, schools, and transit, Campioni Commons aims to provide a vibrant, supportive environment.

The project is conditional on securing financing, with substantial completion expected by early 2027. Once completed, it will significantly contribute to addressing housing affordability while celebrating community and cultural identity.

[phone]

Looks like the corner of McKercher and Heritage. Would have been nice to see it on a BRT corridor, but happy to see affordable densification city-wide. Easy shot up McKercher to get to BRT, anyway. Hope to see more projects like this in the future.

[The S'toon Goon]

For some reason when it was announced that the city was looking into developing some of the lakewood park i had it in my head that it would be north of recycling and south of the existing apartments.

I am glad I thought wrong, as this spot is way better!

[Echoes]

https://www.ckom.com/2025/01/30/mtis-hou...ome-units-on-lakewood-civic-centre-site/

[Echoes]

The City report regarding the sale of the City-owned land for affordable housing includes 231 23rd St E/155 3rd Ave N, which is the unsightly parking lot at 23rd & 3rd adjacent the bus mall.

The report notes the successful applicant as the Saskatoon Open Door Society, who are planning 112 units with multi-use community space, admin offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, and daycare.

I would estimate a 10-12 storey building for that many units and related facilities on a plot of land that size.

[Echoes]

AllSask is also reporting that Crystal Bueckert and partners are the successful proponent for 2401 Broadway Ave, the vacant land at Broadway and Ruth.

The City report notes 24 units. I'd expect to see a townhouse form here, and I imagine Crystal will design something with great presence on that corner while being sensitive to the neighbourhood.

[Precision]

Originally Posted by Echoes

https://www.ckom.com/2025/01/30/mtis-hou...ome-units-on-lakewood-civic-centre-site/

hen I do math and take 53,000,000. (million) and divide that by 120units I have a very difficult time finding where affordable comes in - that is an average of $440,000.00 per unit.

[phone]

Originally Posted by Precision

hen I do math and take 53,000,000. (million) and divide that by 120units I have a very difficult time finding where affordable comes in - that is an average of $440,000.00 per unit.

It's rental housing backed by Camponi

[RobD]

In June we saw the Library break ground on their new Downtown Central location, scheduled to be completed in 2027. The Downtown district also saw 92 new businesses open. 17 new food options joined the district with 21 new retail destinations now calling Downtown home. 33 new health and beauty businesses also joined the district as well as 21 within the service and organization field.

https://dtnyxe.ca/a-look-back-at-2024/

There was no mention of how many closed during that time period but this is good news overall.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Precision

hen I do math and take 53,000,000. (million) and divide that by 120units I have a very difficult time finding where affordable comes in - that is an average of $440,000.00 per unit.

I totally agree. It may be affordable to the renters in the end but it is not affordable to taxpayers. This another idealistic project that checks off boxes on someone's wishlist but is clearly not sustainable. Saskatchewan cannot afford to give a $440,000 home to everyone who is not well off. This money could help so many more people if it was spread out to help people secure more modest shelter.

[phone]

Originally Posted by Stormer

I totally agree. It may be affordable to the renters in the end but it is not affordable to taxpayers. This another idealistic project that checks off boxes on someone's wishlist but is clearly not sustainable. Saskatchewan cannot afford to give a $440,000 home to everyone who is not well off. This money could help so many more people if it was spread out to help people secure more modest shelter.

So we can afford multi-billion dollar freeway bypasses of questionable utility but as soon as we start throwing a few hundred thousand bucks around to give struggling families relatively affordable places to live it's all "won't somebody please think of the taxpayer???" Yah suree.....

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Stormer

I totally agree. It may be affordable to the renters in the end but it is not affordable to taxpayers. This another idealistic project that checks off boxes on someone's wishlist but is clearly not sustainable. Saskatchewan cannot afford to give a $440,000 home to everyone who is not well off. This money could help so many more people if it was spread out to help people secure more modest shelter.

The City report notes the incentives to the Camponi project are a $6M grant and 5 year tax abatement of $990K.

That's $58K of taxpayer support per unit, and keep in mind that the bulk of that are funds disbursed by the Feds through the Housing Accelerator Fund to be used for this purpose.

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by phone

So we can afford multi-billion dollar freeway bypasses of questionable utility but as soon as we start throwing a few hundred thousand bucks around to give struggling families relatively affordable places to live it's all "won't somebody please think of the taxpayer???" Yah suree.....

I'm not sure of the funding model for this development, but I can tell you that $440K per unit is far higher than private sector developers are spending on rental units.

[asdfgh]

Originally Posted by Crisis

I'm not sure of the funding model for this development, but I can tell you that $440K per unit is far higher than private sector developers are spending on rental units.

Any idea what private sector developers are spending on providing wraparound services and childcare in their rental buildings?

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by asdfgh

Any idea what private sector developers are spending on providing wraparound services and childcare in their rental buildings?

Nope. I'm a construction guy and understand the $53M to refer to construction costs.

After following the "wrap around services" link in the story, I'm still no wiser as to what that means, but I doubt that it figures significantly in the construction cost. As for daycares, we've built a couple of them and they're not particularly expensive to incorporte into a new facilty, depending on the size of the daycare.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by phone

So we can afford multi-billion dollar freeway bypasses of questionable utility but as soon as we start throwing a few hundred thousand bucks around to give struggling families relatively affordable places to live it's all "won't somebody please think of the taxpayer???" Yah suree.....

Nope, I am fine with spending money on low income housing. I am just questioning the efficacy of these types of programs. Many more people could be helped if this more efficiently distributed.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Echoes

The City report notes the incentives to the Camponi project are a $6M grant and 5 year tax abatement of $990K.

That's $58K of taxpayer support per unit, and keep in mind that the bulk of that are funds disbursed by the Feds through the Housing Accelerator Fund to be used for this purpose.

I do not have the time to research this but I am going to make the assertion that there is zero private funds at risk in this development, Likely the bulk of funds are coming form a CMHC backed mortgage. I doubt anyone one has a personal guarantee or any equity in this.

[CattyCommittee]

Originally Posted by asdfgh

Any idea what private sector developers are spending on providing wraparound services and childcare in their rental buildings?

Hard Cost: 170-240k per door. All in Costs max out at around 300k a door including land, financing, design, fees etc.

440k a door for housing only on construction only is ludicrous.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by CattyCommittee

Hard Cost: 170-240k per door. All in Costs max out at around 300k a door including land, financing, design, fees etc.

440k a door for housing only on construction only is ludicrous.

Same thing happening in Regina. Publicly funded proponents get funding for their overly ambitious wish lists that are not sustainable over the wider population of folks that can't afford housing.

[Leadly]

-Road Layout: 4th Ave (north-south) meets 19th St (east-west) in a T-shape.

-Sidewalks: New concrete sidewalks on 4th Ave, existing ones on 19th St remain.

-Traffic: Signals are moved, pedestrian signals added, traffic island removed.

-Planting: New trees and shrubs along 4th Ave, with raised planting beds.

-Safety: Jersey barriers