CityHousing Hamilton, the City of Hamilton’s municipally run affordable housing provider, recently celebrated the opening of 55 units of affordable housing at 106 Bay Street North.
The new building near the Cannon Street West and Bay Street North intersection was formerly a parking lot that CityHousing Hamilton acquired in 2018 with the aim of increasing the supply of affordable housing.
The building has 35 one-bedroom units and 20 three-bedroom units, which the city says are “uniquely designed for families.”
A total of 20 per cent of the units are barrier-free in order to meet or exceed standards set out by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Of the 55 units, 82 per cent will be “deeply affordable” rent geared-to-income, while 18 per cent are classified as “moderately affordable” at half-market rents.
The city adds that the development is “transit-oriented,” with HSR and GO bus stops in close proximity. They also note that the building is within walking distance of the future LRT station at King and Bay.
That station will be about a six-minute walk from the building.
All households living in the building will also receive memberships to Hamilton Bike Share.
As there is no tenant parking at the site, CityHousing Hamilton also launched a partnership with Communauto’s car-sharing program to have two car-share vehicles available directly at the building.
A city press release adds that there are also hopes for a second phase of development at the site, explaining that because there is no tenant parking there is room for an additional building.
The building is also “Passive House Certified,” meaning that it operates as a near-net zero facility.
The $28 million project was funded with about $12.5 million from the federal government through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Co-Investment Fund and MLI Select Loan and almost $11 million from the City of Hamilton’s Poverty Reduction Fund and Affordable Housing Fund.
The building is meant to replace 45 of 91 deeply affordable rent geared-to-income units from the city’s now-closed Jamesville site and also adds 10 new moderately affordable half-market units to the city’s housing supply.
Adam Sweedland, who serves as the CEO of CityHousing Hamilton, said in a press release, “This building is a scalable, sustainable, and forward-thinking housing solution showcasing innovative partnerships to provide alternative transportation options while allowing for the possibility of further densification on site.”
“Creating a building like this, as energy efficient as it is, as livable as it is, takes a tremendous amount of thought, intentional design, and planning, and so I thank everyone who has been involved in bringing this building to life.”
CityHousing Hamilton has a portfolio of 7,142 units and provides homes for more than 13,000 Hamiltonians.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
