Cash-poor visionaries, Jubilee Fund turn parking lot into 55+ housing plan

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This article was published 29/08/2022 (751 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The fear of becoming homeless may soon no longer loom over a few dozen senior citizens in a section of inner city Winnipeg.

That’s because a group of West Alexander-Centennial neighbourhood residents are working to convert a decades-old former retail parking lot into a three-storey building, with 48 units affordable to seniors who are at risk of becoming homeless.

“It will be good for seniors 55 years and up, but the rent is less than market rent and there is a rent assistance program in this province here to help,” Catherine Collins of Harriet Street Seniors Housing said Monday.

“It’s great because this (parking) lot has always been a problem. It gets slept on, peed on, and used for parking. To see something contributing to the community is great.”

The proposed Harriet Street housing complex plans go before the Lord Selkirk-West Kildonan community committee Thursday in a rezoning effort. It would allow, among other things, a multi-unit building with a front yard of about one metre instead of about seven metres, 22 parking spaces instead of 58, and a building height of about 11 metres instead of 10.

It can get away with fewer parking spots because it is allowing a car share co-op to take a spot, advocates say.

The matter will eventually go to city council for final approval.

NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre), who has written a letter in support, said she hopes city councillors approve the project.

“It allows seniors to age in dignity and live in their own community,” Gazan said. “These projects are essential.

“We really need to counteract the loss of housing in this neighbourhood. Adequate housing for seniors is becoming more of a crisis. Rent prices have risen and affordable housing is hard to find.”

John Prystanski, who was the area’s councillor two decades ago and is now a lawyer helping the group make the building become a reality, said the property has been an issue for many years.

“This is a long overdue project for the area,” Prystanski said. “This lot has sat vacant for as long as I can remember. At various times, it has become a place for homelessness or parties or community disruption. It has negatively affected the local residents.

“When Cathy came to me with the idea, I said, ‘Where do I sign up to help?’ We need more of these housing projects in the community.”

Collins and other residents began looking at what could be done about the lot near the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Initially, Collins said she didn’t know if Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., which had once operated a nearby store, still owned the Harriet Street parking lot.

Turns out the company did, but the group of residents didn’t have the cash to buy it and didn’t have the collateral a financial institution would need to see to offer a loan.

That’s when the Jubilee Fund, a charitable ethical investment group which helps non-profits working to reduce the impact of poverty, stepped in.

Peter Cantelon, the fund’s executive director, said the organization loaned them $500,000 to be able to buy the property.

“This project checks off so many boxes,” Cantelon said. “It is infill development, so it’s not encouraging sprawl. It’s close to everything for seniors, and it’s taking an unusual space, which could be used for less-than-savoury purposes, and turning it into something which helps the community.”

He said the fund believes so strongly in the Harriet Street project and the community members behind it that the group hopes it can be an example for people in other neighbourhoods.

“It’s sort of a classic example of why the Jubilee Fund exists,” Cantelon said. “You have a group of incredibly passionate people who believe in the potential for their community, but they had a complete lack of collateral… We’ve taken a leap of faith.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca