Planning for an exciting housing project by Habitat for Humanity Prince Edward-Hastings is well underway.
On Monday, members of Belleville City Council received an update on Habitat’s plan to build a low-rise development on the site of the former Belleville Police station at 93 Dundas Street East.
Habitat Chief Executive Officer Hazzem Koudsi says the demolition of the former police station will begin late summer or fall of this year to make way for 66 one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums.
It will be the largest non-phased project in Habitat Canada’s history.
Koudsi says the initial price tag for the project was $33 million but they are reviewing that as they expect to be able to bring that price down.
“That price tag was set when we did the preliminary development report about a year ago. And a year ago, prices for construction were much higher. So, in that year things have started to come back and normalize where we would expect them, so we expect some innovative techniques in construction plus time that allowed prices to come back to normal.”
Pre-development is likely to begin in spring 2025 with construction to begin in fall 2026 and full occupancy expected by spring 2028.
Koudsi says applications will open up when construction is 80% complete.
As with other Habitat builds, successful applicants will be expected to put in 500 hours of volunteer time on their way to home ownership.
He notes more than 800 applications were received for recent projects on Sidney Street.
And while this project is taking several years to complete, Koudsi says fundraising for something like this is a major hurdle.
Habitat has established a construction cabinet campaign committee to help with fundraising.
Some of the homes may also be sold on the open market to raise money for the project if necessary but the goal is to keep as many as possible for affordable home ownership.
The Children’s Safety Village, which also sits on the property, will be moving to a new location and Koudsi says the building will be converted to an affordable daycare centre.
Koudsi adds they will be giving the former police station a proper send-off before its demolition.
“We’re planning to do some tours of the old police station to allow some time for the community to say goodbye. We’ll be offering up the opportunity to buy some bricks. And we’re also going to have some fun with it at night. For those that like that creepy feel, we’ll be doing some form of a fright night tour of the old police station.”
The local Habitat for Humanity has completed 33 housing projects since 1995.
In his deputation to council, Koudsi also mentioned other projects in the works including a duplex to be built on a lot donated by St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Marmora and five homes that will be constructed on Bowery Street in Picton by Delhi Park.
