When a doctor and her husband purchased a large property on the outskirts of the town of Antigonish, N.S., two years ago, they envisioned what could be possible for their community.
“We were walking through the land one day between the spruce trees and the apple trees,” said Amy Hendricks, recalling the moment her husband, Paul Davie, raised the idea.
“And he said, ‘Can’t you just imagine an affordable housing development here?'”
Now, planning is underway for a development that could lead to the construction of 150 housing units on a 16-hectare section of land they donated to the Antigonish Affordable Housing Society. The organization has already received seed funding to begin the assessment process for a first phase that will include 56 units.
Hendricks, an internal medicine specialist at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish, and her family moved to the town of nearly 5,000 people from Yellowknife in 2016. When the couple sought out land to develop a clinic for Hendricks and other doctors to work out of, they found an 18-hectare plot and purchased it, knowing it was much larger than the space they required.
“We want to invest in a community and be a part of the community that has younger people and older people and immigrants and children,” said Hendricks.
Colleen Cameron, chair of the board of the Antigonish Affordable Housing Society, told CBC’s Maritime Noon she was taken by surprise when Hendricks approached her about donating the property. But there was no doubt what Hendricks and Davie had in mind would help address housing shortages in the area.
“The need is quite significant,” Cameron said Thursday.
She pointed to a provincial housing needs assessment that predicted 1,500 new housing units will be needed by 2032 in Antigonish County, which has a population of slightly more than 20,000. The town, which includes St. Francis Xavier University, has similar needs, though on a smaller scale.
“That puts extra strain on our community in terms of accessing affordable housing with the hospital and the university,” said Cameron. “So what we’re doing is we’re going to be contributing about 10 per cent of that housing stock that is going to be required by 2032.”
The entire project is expected to cost about $22 million. Cameron said her organization will be applying for grants, mortgages and repayable loans through Housing Nova Scotia and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The housing society itself has to raise five per cent of that amount, or slightly more than $1 million, which will require fundraising efforts and community support.
Cameron said she foresees a diverse community of residents, with “people of all ages, people of diverse incomes and diverse backgrounds. There’s going to be people that have full-time jobs, there’s going to be people that are seniors.”
The majority of the units will be classed as affordable, based on Housing Nova Scotia’s definition, she said.
Someone applying for a one-bedroom rental unit would have to have an income below $62,000, she said. For a two-bedroom unit, the household limit is $72,000. There will also be three- and four-bedrooms units.
“They’re not low, low incomes, but if you’re making that kind of money, it’s still a big challenge to get any kind of housing that is affordable in this community,” said Cameron.
Maritime Noon52:28Today’s phone-in: Dog behaviour expert Silvia Jay. Plus, affordable housing news from Antigonish and monarch butterflies in NB.
On the phone-in: our dog behaviour expert Silvia Jay takes your questions. But first, we hear about a new affordable housing development in the works in Antigonish, and good news for monarch butterfly populations.
Hendricks said she hopes the entire town will benefit from these housing units.
“We are all community members and we’re just excited to be there together and develop something that I think will be really beautiful.”
