The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread - Page 120

Seely32 · #**2381** Posted **Apr 22, 2008, 1:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PostModernPrometheus

Nice to see...the quicker this is done the better; once a serious development is announced on this site, it would be a shame to have it stalled months-years for soil conatmination / cleaning....

Yes the faster the better, I just hope we can get some height on our waterfront ala Halifax.

Helladog · #**2382** Posted **Apr 22, 2008, 3:32 PM**

Developer giving back
Housing John Rocca says private sector should be contributing to building of affordable units

JEFF DUCHARME
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Published Tuesday April 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page C1

SAINT JOHN - Developer John Rocca pulled no punches during a press conference Monday announcing 24 new affordable housing units to be built on the east side. He believes more developers should sign deals with Ottawa and Fredericton regardless of the profit margins.

The city needs to construct more than 1,000 affordable units to address the current need. According to the province, there are currently 1,136 people waiting for affordable housing units.

Mary Schryer, minister of Social Development and the Status of Women, knows more such agreements are needed.

"There's always been a great need for housing in the Greater Saint John region and this is why it's important that we develop these partnerships," Schryer said.

The in-fill incentive program in the 1980s attracted 92 units, and a large portion of them belong to affordable housing agencies, including Saint John Non-Profit Housing Inc.

Saint John Non-Profit Housing Inc. has 11 sites in the south-central peninsula, for a total of 308 units.

"There just hasn't been the kind of participation from the private sector as there has been, for example, from the non-profit sector," Rocca said after Monday's press conference.

The 24 new affordable housing units to be built in the city will be funded by the federal and provincial governments. Ottawa will donate $720,000 to pay construction costs and the province will put up $921,000 in rent subsidies.

Called Woodhollow Park, the development will be located in the Westmorland Road area.

The units will be for families, which is the biggest single group on the waiting list. Out of the 1,136, those waiting for family-affordable housing total 488.

"I think it's going to haunt us in a few years if the (second) refinery happens and all of a sudden we try to step up to the plate," Rocca said. "We have to start getting some things ready and in place because otherwise a lot of people are going to be displaced who are in lower-priced units because there will be such a demand from the market for profit (units)."

The low-income units will be part of a 48-unit building - half the units are for profit and the others are subsidized.

Fundy Royal MP Rob Moore said such agreements are crucial to the province's growth.

"That's important to me, to have strong communities in New Brunswick," Moore said at the press conference.

While the market return on an apartment unit is 10-15 per cent, the locked-in return on government affordable units is only six per cent per unit. Rocca said that's not even the cost of borrowing, but that's not the point.

"I don't think that there are really any incentives per se. I think it's a matter of giving back," Rocca said.

After a decade, the rent subsidies cease and Rocca would like to find a way to allow the tenants to eventually own the units outright.

"It is not intended to be a program to make developers rich," Rocca said. "It is intended to be a program to provide affordable housing. The federal government is making a contribution, the provincial government is making a contribution, so why shouldn't the private sector make a contribution as well?"

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Housing facts

Published Tuesday April 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page C2

* According to the province, 1,136 affordable housing units are needed to meet the need in Saint John.

* There are 16 projects in the queue for approval in the Saint John region, 10 of which are in the city.

* Over the past four years, 137 apartments have been subsidized by the province and the federal government.

* Some 37 per cent of Saint Johners spend 30 per cent or more of their total household income on rent.

* Less than two per cent of Saint John's housing stock is built for people with physical disabilities, while 10 to 15 per cent of the city's population needs some form of special accessibility.

* Provincewide there are approximately 40 projects in various stages progressing towards approval, including Saint John's 16. Not all of these projects will necessarily be approved.

Source: Robert Duguay, Department of Social Development

Helladog · #**2383** Posted **Apr 22, 2008, 4:16 PM**

HARBOUR STATION EVENT INFORMATION
---------

Best Damn Thing, released in April 2007, is already certified platinum in the U.S and has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. Now, building on the huge success of that album, punk-pop dynamo Avril Lavigne will be bringing her high-spirited, full-throttle energy to Harbour Station on August 8 as part of her Best Damn Tour. Fans can expect to see the record come to life through Lavigne’s stage show, which will feature dancers and a live band. Tickets for Avril Lavigne will go on sale this Saturday (April 26), beginning at 10 a.m. They’ll be available on-line at www.harbourstation.nb.ca, by phone at 657-1234 and 1-800-267-2800 or in person at the Harbour Station Box Office.

AVRIL LAVIGNE
8 Aug 2008 , 8:00 PM Doors Open: 7:00 PM

Other Upcoming Events

* 7th Annual Community Fair
* ALICE COOPER
* BIGFOOT MONSTER MADNESS
* Bill Gaither
* BLUE MAN GROUP
* BOB DYLAN
* FEIST
* Paderno Blow Out Sale!
* Sea Dogs VS Huskies GAME 5 IF NECESSARY
* Sea Dogs VS Rouyn-Noranda GAME 3
* Sea Dogs VS Rouyn-Noranda GAME 4
* WWE SMACKDOWN/ECW LIVE

---------
Copyright ©2008 Harbour Station

PersonPlaceorThing · #**2384** Posted **Apr 23, 2008, 4:46 PM**

Does anyone know what is going on between Chipman Hill and St. Patrick Street on Union? They have been working on the building beside the Aquatic Center for a long while now.

Helladog · #**2385** Posted **Apr 23, 2008, 9:03 PM**

Interesting vid of the YMCA demolition...

http://www.youtube.com/v/En-3lHwaVME&hl=en

PersonPlaceorThing · #**2386** Posted **Apr 24, 2008, 5:59 PM**

I took this off of Country 94's news blog. The mayor is pledging to keep up the work that is going on in Saint John around affordable housing. I buy it - he was a big fan of Leinster Court and seems genuinely interested in the needs to the downtrodden.

[AFFORDABLE HOUSING CAMPAIGN PLEDGE BY INCUMBANT MAYOR]
14:34:39
There is still a long way to go to satisfy a need in the city for affordable housing--- 9 hundred names are still on the waiting list for an affordable place to live and incumbant mayor Norm MacFarlane is pledging to help remedy the problem if re-elected next month. MacFarlane addressed the issue while launching the 3rd plank of his campaign's social strategy platform and says affordable housing falls under the mandate of the provincial and federal governments so all three levels must be at the table.

If MacFarlane comes out top dog in the May 12th vote he wants to see more land bought by the city and then sold or given to Saint John Non-Profit Housing along with grants to cover the costs of hookups on the properties.

kwajo · #**2387** Posted **Apr 24, 2008, 7:28 PM**

What defines "affordable housing" anyway? I hear the term all the time, but I don't think I've ever seen a dollar figure attached to it. Does anyone know what sort of rent range is considered affordable, or is it always determined as a percentage of annual income?

PersonPlaceorThing · #**2388** Posted **Apr 24, 2008, 7:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwajo

What defines "affordable housing" anyway? I hear the term all the time, but I don't think I've ever seen a dollar figure attached to it. Does anyone know what sort of rent range is considered affordable, or is it always determined as a percentage of annual income?

I believe that the province and CMHC define affordable housing as housing where rent (or mortgage payments) are less than 30% of a household's income.

I think 30% seems high personally (as a non-heated unit needs to be heated from the other 70% of income), but that is the standard as I understand it.

For provincially supported projects, the tenants who are being subsidized pay 30% of their income and the province makes up the difference between that and "market rent" (which is agreed to by NB Housing at the start of a project) thus giving an owner full market rent.

Putting affordable units into a project creates secure income for a developer - though the market rent that the province will subsidize is pre-approved and might not grow as fast as a pure market rent.

Helladog · #**2389** Posted **Apr 25, 2008, 5:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

Does anyone know what is going on between Chipman Hill and St. Patrick Street on Union? They have been working on the building beside the Aquatic Center for a long while now.

I didn't know anyone was working on it....

Helladog · #**2390** Posted **Apr 25, 2008, 5:39 AM**

WATER-FRONT DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES TO MOVE AHEAD

The city's waterfront is beginning its re-development and already projects can be seen getting underway on different phases of the overall plan. The old bus turn around site on the foot of King Street is being transformed into the new home of the Barbour's General Store which will serve as a visitor information site. Ross Jefferson with Waterfront Development tells CHSJ News, the project should be completed by mid summer.

The tender is out for the development of a park at the opposite end of Water Street. Another phase of the waterfront's transformation is the re-development of Pugsley Park slated to get underway next year.

PersonPlaceorThing · #**2391** Posted **Apr 25, 2008, 4:27 PM**

I'm not sure if its the scent of chlorine in my hair or because I heard people talking about it this morning, but I was looking at the qPlex plans and think its a pretty cool project. I might be inclined to put an indoor pool in place of the outdoor one, but its still a nice looking project overall.

For those who don't remember, the plans are at http://142.166.3.145/qplex.cfm