A local social agency's quest to convert a motel near the downtown core into affordable housing won city council's approval on Monday night.
Following a public hearing, council members voted unanimously in favor of passing through third reading the AWAC (An Association Advocating for Women and Community) proposal for the old Economy Inn on Third Avenue at Edmonton Street.
The site is to be rezoned to non-profit housing to allow for 30 units of affordable rental housing. With clients staying anywhere from three months to three years, it will act as a transition from homelessness to independent living, council was told.
Some statistics were presented in support of the project.
Just 13 per cent of the city's housing stock is apartment style, and only eight per cent is one-bedroom or studio and, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 680 more bedrooms are needed to suitably house all renters.
And 1,990 renters spend more than half their monthly income on housing and so are at risk of homelessness. There are 95 clients on AWAC's waiting list for moving into the building.
A perimeter fence just off the building's walls will be erected so that clients and visitors must pass through the front entrance where there will be security cameras and where everyone will have to sign in.
In addition to the apartments, it will hold a unit for a caretaker who will be on site around the clock, as well as outreach offices, a communal kitchen and a laundry room.
"It's essentially an interior renovation project that will convert the inside of the building into a use that it's already very well suited for," project planner John O'Reilly of M'Akola Development Services told council.
"The exterior appearance won't change substantially and there are security features like the camera, the fence, the 24-hour staffing as well as an experienced and responsible housing operator [who] will ensure the project contributes to the neighbourhood and does not detract from it."
Just one member of the public spoke during the hearing and was in favour of the project, saying it will be an improvement over the "very transient" nature of the previous use.
"Everybody needs a home, especially when you're trying to get on your feet and I know how much low-barrier housing is needed in our city," Coun. Terri McConnachie said.
Fourth and final reading on the relevant bylaws remains pending.
