A local real estate broker says there are a couple of good sites in Sarnia that the County of Lambton could eye for affordable housing projects.
This is in addition to a 4,800 square metre piece of property at 115 Victoria St. N, which city council recently agreed to hand over to the county.
Coldwell Banker's Lou Longo said the former Walker Brothers' property is for sale at the corner of Mitton and Wellington Streets.
He believes that would be a perfect place to build some affordable housing units.
"That property recently went though a preliminary review for a new six storey building to be built at the rear of the property, and it seemed to have some favourable results from the city," said Longo.
"In addition, there is a 27,000 square foot building there that could be renovated. The owner has already done some preliminary work there as well to create between 13 and 15 apartments in the existing building. So, that could be another option for this group to look at developing something there in the Mitton Village area. It's close to the downtown and close to all of the services that these individuals would require. The zoning is already in place and ready to go, and it's up for sale at $1.75 million. We would like to sit down with (the county) and see if there's any possibility of moving forward."
Longo said the former Chipican Motel, at Michigan Avenue and Christina Street is also for sale. He said it's another location that would make sense for this type of development.
"It's a bit of a different location than the Mitton Village one, but there is a 22 unit motel there," he said. "It's currently being occupied by some County of Lambton clients. So, I guess the question is whether that's another opportunity for the county to purchase that building and continue on with their accommodations there. There is room as well to expand that building. There's an empty lot that's included in the purchase of that one on the Michigan Avenue side."
In an email to Sarnia News Today, Lambton County Social Services General Manager Valerie Colasanti said she couldn't speak directly about any specific sites.
However, she did provide some information about the local need for affordable housing.
"In 2020, our housing study estimated that 3,890 households were currently experiencing homelessness or were renting and living in housing that is unsuitable, inadequate, or unaffordable, are not receiving rental assistance and need affordable rental housing," said Colasanti. "Since that time, the situation has only gotten worse, and we have seen an increase in the number of individuals and families applying to the housing services wait list for an affordable unit as well as an increase in individuals and families experiencing homelessness." At the end of March 2023 there were 656 eligible applicants for rent geared to income assistance housing and the average minimum wait times for a unit were 36 months.
Meanwhile, it's still not known how much of the Victoria Street lot will be used for a housing development.
At its most recent meeting, Sarnia council heard there were some concerns from Tang's Restaurant surrounding the loss of parking spaces.
It's expected concept plans for that property will be presented to city and county councils this fall.
