United Housing made an announcement Monday in Listowel that the fundraising for the Music Hall apartments project has been completed.
Construction is already underway for the new 10-unit build, and United Housing Director Kathy Vassilakos says this project will help address housing needs in the community, and continuing to do that will take an all-hands-on-deck approach moving forward.
"No single level of government, no single person is going to be able to address this situation, but it's a collective effort, a collective effort to do something good in the community. That's the way I would look at it," she explained.
The capital fundraising to make the Music Hall apartments a reality, alongside selling local bonds for the project, was $705,000. The Music Hall Apartments project in downtown Listowel will be located at 190–198 Main Street West. It includes 4,500 square feet of currently unused space. The finished project will encompass a mix of market-rate, moderately priced workforce units and deeply affordable units. There is no timetable yet for completion of the construction.
A consultant said it would likely take two years to raise the funds, and United Housing and the community did it in just under a year, including selling out the community bonds in just over three months. North Perth Mayor Todd Kasenberg says he's extremely proud of the commitment from the community.
"There's a great deal of gratification in the fact that this community has power when it comes to fundraising and is unafraid to venture in and lean into these kinds of projects and really put their money where their mouths are, too, right?" Kasenberg said.
North Perth Councillor Dave Johnston provided a final donation of $3,000 to achieve the campaign's fundraising goal. Vassilakos says when communities come together like this, anything is possible.
"It can seem like it's overwhelming because it's such a big problem, but if you break it down into 'one build at a time, one building at a time, one project at a time' you'll chip away at it and you'll get there," she added.
United Housing also has projects on the go in Stratford, Exeter and a number of other communities that are looking to accomplish something similar to the Music Hall apartments to address housing.
"The success of the Music Hall Apartments capital campaign really announces to our region that United Housing is here, it’s important and it’s speaking to people in our communities who want to help address the housing crisis locally," said Ryan Erb, CEO of UWPH and UH. "As we celebrate this achievement, we’d like to thank Dave Johnston for generously donating the final $3,0o0 needed to help us achieve our goal, along with all the other donors who helped make this campaign a success."
