An affordable apartment development proposed for Janefield Avenue wants some extra incentives from the city in addition to a $924,000 city grant.
Rockwater on Janefield is a 10-storey, 165-unit affordable apartment complex planned for vacant land at 233-237 Janefield Ave.
City staff has recommended the city contribute $924,000 from the city’s Affordable Housing Incentives Grant to help create the affordable and for-profit development.
Affordable housing being 80 per cent of market rate.
Staff is recommending staff use its entire Affordable Housing Incentives pot, which currently sits at $1.29 million, on the Janefield development and another proposed for the St. Joseph’s property, which would get $364,000 for some affordable elements.
It would be the first affordable housing built in Guelph since 2012.
At city council’s meeting Monday, a representative from the developer, Peter Waters, told council they were looking for more, which seemed to take some members of council off-guard.
Waters said in order to qualify for federal affordable housing grants the developer needs more from the municipality, namely the delaying of other “passive” fees such as permits, property tax deferral and parkland dedication fees.
“Are you saying that if we don’t do something more than our staff recommended, this project might not happen?” Mayor Cam Guthrie asked Waters.
He said he couldn’t answer that, it was up to the federal government program to approve what was on the table and that the more local government contributed, the more favourable it would be looked on by the federal government program.
Waters said the federal government wants to see a greater commitment from local levels of government when it comes to approving affordable housing projects like the one being proposed.
“I get the sense it’s not enough,” coun. June Hofland said.
Council approved the staff recommendation for the grant to the development from the city's incentive fund.
