CityHousing Hamilton puts 300 units back online after repairs

A $2-million renovation blitz has put 300 social-housing units in Hamilton that couldn't be rented due to disrepair back into circulation.

The CityHousing units needed a variety of repairs: mould remediation, floor and wall replacements, and upgraded electrical and plumbing systems.

Of the 300 that were repaired between November and March, 215 have been rented out to tenants on the city's wait list for rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing.

It was all those units that we just wanted to get online as quickly as possible because if you are family looking for RGI, weeks matter," Edward John, the city's housing services director, said Thursday.

In addition to the 215 RGI tenancies, 13 units have been leased at market rent and 72 are still to be occupied, notes a report going before councillors on July 13.

Last October, faced with a significant" number of units that couldn't be rented and a spent CityHousing budget, council approved the Home for the Holidays" emergency renovation program.

Council started tackling the repair issue through the city's $50-million poverty reduction fund in 2017. Since then, CityHousing has largely cleared" the backlog of vacant units, the report notes. But 18 chronically vacant units" still need deeper investment beyond the renovation blitz. Additional units are out of commission due to other renovation efforts and redevelopment projects.

For example, a $5.1-million job that involves removing asbestos and replacing water lines at two 110-unit buildings at Congress Crescent, just east of the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

There are still several floors to do," Tom Hunter, CityHousing CEO, said Thursday, noting the COVID-19 pandemic had temporarily halted the work.

Three major revamps underway have also kept hundreds of units off-line: 500 MacNab St. N., Jamesville and Roxborough Park. Tenants have been relocated. The projects are part of cash-strapped CityHousing's plan to leverage land value via redevelopment and property sales.

• The revitalization of 500 MacNab, a 146-unit tower in the North End the city vacated a few years ago, is leading to an anticipated completion date of spring 2021, Hunter noted. The interior demolition is complete and new windows are going in.

• Talks with a private consortium to redevelop Jamesville - a 91-unit townhouse complex also in the North End - are expected to reach an agreement this summer. In spring of 2019, the last residents were relocated from the complex, which awaits demolition. The plan calls for a 526-unit mixed-income community. Of the 91 RGI units, 46 will remain on-site while 45 others are to be reallocated to a future CityHousing building at Bay and Cannon streets.

• Roxborough Park is another CityHousing partnership with a private consortium. The 700-unit mixed-income community will replace 107 townhouses and seniors' apartments in the east-end complex. In recent weeks, 41 Reid Ave., single-storey apartments for seniors, was demolished. As part of the redevelopment, CityHousing plans to construct an eight-storey building with 95 units - 64 are to be RGI and 31 market rent.

The $2-million Home for the Holidays initiative is modest compared to the capital work CityHousing has on the horizon throughout its portfolio of roughly 7,000 units.

The city expects the agency's stock will need $400 million worth of renewal in the next 15 years. The municipality hopes to land $170 million over just under a decade from the federal housing strategy to help pay for it.

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based city hall reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com