City of Regina commits up to $3M to complete stalled rapid housing project in North Central

WATCH: The City of Regina has committed up to $3 million to complete a stalled rapid housing project in North Central. Wayne Mantyka reports.

The City of Regina has committed up to $3 million to complete a stalled rapid housing project in the North Central neighbourhood.

Work on the 30 unit building at Angus Street and Fifth Avenue stopped last November due to rising construction costs.

The project was to be operated by the North Central Family Centre, which went to Regina city council this week asking for money to help complete construction.

“There was significant cost escalations in the construction industry,” Doug McNair, fundraising chair of the North Central Family Centre, said. “We believe about 35 per cent during this period of construction.”

Originally, the federal government contributed close to $7 million with about $1 million each from the city and province. Regina city council has agreed to contribute up to $3 million toward project completion. However, according to McNair, that might not be enough.

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“Part of the recommendations, we’re going to be working really closely with city administration to look at other grant opportunities, to also reach out to other levels of government. I know there’s been discussions at the federal level and we’ve had discussions with the provincial level as well,” he said.

“We want to fairly quickly reach back out to other potential funders to see what their interest and their appetite is in seeing this through,” he added.

When completed, the Orange Buffalo Lodge will offer a full range of supports to about 90 residents, something Kim Wenger, executive director of the North Central Family Centre said is needed.

“North Central Family Centre believes affordable housing does not work without supports. At the end of the day, we don’t want people to stay in a low income status and we want them to be able to achieve things greater than that so our goal always in everything we do is to help break the cycle of poverty,” she explained.

North Central Family Centre plans to do things differently as it works toward completion of the project. It’s going to obtain an exact construction cost and obtain all the necessary funding before resuming work with the goal of moving in next year.