It could not have been a colder day for the outdoor sod-turning event for Glencoe Developments' new 21-unit condo project in North Battleford.
City officials, developers, realtors and representatives from Head Start on a Home braved -30 C last Thursday for the sod-turning at 2322 Kildeer Dr.
Conditions were so chilly that the party did not even wait for all the media to show up on time at 11 a.m. for the sod turning. The shivering officials got the sod-turning ceremony out of the way as quickly as possible before making their way to the much warmer confines of Venice House for speeches praising the project.
The harsh conditions for the sod turning mirrored the frosty atmosphere under which the project was launched last fall.
The condo project was approved under a controversial new residential down payment grant program approved by the City, offering grants of $5,000 to new home buyers as a down payment to purchase the units. The grant program was tied in to the provincial Head Start on a Home program to promote affordable housing, where the price is set below the average selling price in the community.
While the Glencoe project had majority support, the grants themselves proved controversial with fierce opposition coming from councillors Brad Pattinson and Trent Houk as well as from former mayor Wayne Ray, who spoke against the grants in a presentation to council. Opponents have especially criticized the notion of using tax money from city residents to pay for homebuyer grants.
Glencoe's developer Ashley McGrath said the grants were an important part of getting the project off the ground.
"What the Head Start program asks for is for the City to come up with a way to contribute to the project," said McGrath.
"Any program they could have come up with would have been great, but this is a really good program. It will benefit the city in the long run and it will benefit the purchasers today."
The Lloydminster-based developers have now built some 400 units around Saskatchewan, including in Estevan and Weyburn, and "every unit that we've built to this point has serviced the entry level market", said McGrath.
There are strict qualifications buyers must meet to be able to qualify for the $5,000 grants, including having a household income under $65,000. If they do not qualify under the program, buyers could still qualify for a two-year property tax incentive that is also being offered by the City.
McGrath said the units will be attractive to first-time homebuyers looking to exit the rental market, freeing up more rental units. The monthly payments would be at or below what they would pay for rent in North Battleford, he said.
The condos are listed by Re/Max of the Battlefords at $169,900 for a 775 square foot unit or $184,900 for 844 square feet.
The units will also appeal to those looking to downsize from a bigger house to something that would require less maintenance. Construction is expected to be completed by this fall.
The arrival of the project was hailed by new Battlefords MLA Herb Cox, who also pointed to the project as a way to ease the strain on the rental market.
"We're creating 21 new homes for people," said Cox. "That's going to take 21 families out of the rental market. That's going to reduce some of the pressure on the rental market, which we know is very tight in this city."
Mayor Ian Hamilton sees the Glencoe project as meeting an important need. "We see a distinct need in our community for affordable housing," he said. "It's just part of a continuum of housing requirements needed in any community."
The mayor also echoed the point made that it will help ease the housing strain on rental units in the city as well.
He pointed to Glencoe's arrival in North Battleford as another vote of confidence in the city.
"It's a $2 million investment coming in from a developer who has confidence in our community. I think it just demonstrates we have a vibrant economy right now that people have a lot of confidence to come and invest a lot of money to make sure that this continues, and I think that's going to be very evident as we progress through the year."
