Sudbury council backs $1M funding for 38 affordable units

Sudbury approves $1 million for Peace Tower's 38 affordable units, cutting waitlist as construction advances towards the city’s end to homelessness goal.

Sudbury’s Peace Tower affordable housing project is one step closer to completion after city councillors approved more than $1 million in municipal funding Tuesday.

The 38-unit building will offer deeply affordable housing, with officials saying it will help reduce the city’s lengthy waitlist for geared-to-income units.

“We have over 1,600 applicants looking for a place to live, and more than 1,000 of those are looking for a single bedroom,” said Coun. Mike Parent.

“So, again, it’s going to go a long way for those 38 individuals who are going to have an opportunity to live at this location in the near future.”

During Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting, council unanimously backed the funding, which includes a $240,000 grant to offset construction costs.

“The other $850,000 is what we call a tax increment equivalent grant,” Parent said.

“That’s going to offset some of the property taxes that the not-for-profit Peace Tower Corporation is going to have to pay, giving them some time to get on their feet. For the first couple of years, they’ll pay only what the property was assessed at before the build. Then they’ll be subsidized for two more years, and after that, they’ll be paying regular taxes.”

The project has already secured provincial and federal funding, but city staff stressed municipal support is crucial to keeping rents deeply affordable.

“They could take those 38 units and go full market,” said Cindi Briscoe, manager of housing services.

“That’s something they could do at the $1,043 level without accessing our wait-list. They could charge affordable housing, which is the CMHC’s affordable AMR (average market rent) at 80 per cent, and then fill the building themselves without accessing the centralized wait-list. So this is a really key piece – with them getting the subsidy, it will assist with the centralized wait-list.”

Construction is already underway, with completion expected within months.

“The foundations are now complete for the building, and in June, we’re expecting the cross-laminated timber panels to arrive on site and begin erection,” said architect Kate Bowman.

Parent emphasized that the Peace Tower is just one of many initiatives aimed at tackling Sudbury’s housing crisis.

“This goes back to a resolution I presented a couple of years ago to end homelessness in Sudbury by 2030,” he said.

“An outcome of that resolution was staff presenting us with a report on what it takes to end homelessness by 2030, looking at world’s best practices. The first pillar was prevention – root causes of homelessness often come down to a lack of places for people to live. This in itself is providing a small piece. But when we look at the efforts of this council and the mayor over the last few years, we see it accelerating, with more developers interested in working with different levels of government to create affordable living spaces.”