Living in a city’s downtown core should be within everyone’s reach, says development consultant John Farley.
It’s why he’s involved with pitching a market-affordable condominium project for Guelph’s downtown. A site plan is in the city’s hands for a six-storey residential building on 3-7 Gordon St., right across from Guelph’s Farmers’ Market, with 57 units featuring studio, one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den and two-bedroom homes.
“Affordable home ownership is a large market that is untapped,” said Farley, who consults with Creating Homes.
There hasn’t been that opportunity for everyone to access home ownership, he said.
The Market Commons project is based on a similar model as the east-end Mountford project with prices starting as low as $149,900 for a studio condominium. The prices are about 20 per cent less than the market rate, Farley said.
The development makes it possible for someone with a lower or moderate annual income to jump from renting to ownership, with “payment-free loans” of up to 10 per cent of the home’s value which do not have to be paid back until the homeowner resells the unit.
Farley said the condos should be attractive to first time buyers, young families, people downsizing or going through life transitions such as a divorce. A car share as well as bicycle storage will also be on site.
“It gets people out of the rental cycle,” he said.
Mayor Karen Farbridge said the development ties into the city’s Downtown Secondary Plan. One of the key elements, she said, is to increase the residential development.
Under the province’s Places to Grow legislation, downtown Guelph is expected to grow by 6,000 residents — from the current 3,000 to about 9,000 — by 2031.
“We are seeing a real pickup in the development industry,” Farbridge said.
In addition to the Market Commons project, an 18-storey luxury condominium is being proposed for the corner of Macdonell and Woolwich Streets and development is also expected on the former W.C. Wood site on Arthur Street.
Farbridge said it’s a positive sign to see a diversity of residential development in the downtown.
“We need to have a balance,” she said.
Ian Panabaker, the city’s general manager of downtown economic renewal, said residential growth will help create a neighbourhood in the downtown and establish a voice.
Construction of the Market Commons project is expected to begin in the winter with people expected to move into their homes in the spring of 2013.