Plans for what is now being called "an upcoming project on Kathleen Avenue in Sarnia" will be shared on Tuesday night.
The County of Lambton's Housing Services Department is hosting an information drop-in session for the public to learn more about an affordable housing project.
Housing Services Manager Melisa Johnson said they're planning to offer a deeper level of affordability and treat all of the units as rent-geared-to-income units. "We're hoping to build a three storey, 50 unit, complex on the vacant space on Kathleen Avenue, just to the west of Indian Road," said Johnson. "This complex will contain all one bedroom units and 14 of them will be accessible and supported by March of Dimes."
Lambton County Council endorsed construction of the complex at its meeting in March.
"At this time we have our zoning application submitted with the city and we are anticipating that the public session for that application will be in November," Johnson said. "So, assuming that goes well, we are planning to move immediately into (the) site plan and then building permit (process)." Johnson is hoping to have shovels in the ground next spring.
"And that is a very ambitious timeline, but that is what we're striving for, and then we're looking at about 12 to 18 months of construction," she said. "So we're looking at, likely, summer of 2026 for completion for occupancy."
Federal and provincial funding to support the build has yet to be secured.
"This project is funded partially by our affordable housing reserve, and we also have approval for some county debt financing for it, and then we will be trying to achieve some funding from senior levels of government. So, once we get to the point of having our site plan and our costing finalized, we will be submitting for the CMHC [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation] Affordable Housing Program to help fund this project," Johnson said. The information session, at Queen Elizabeth II School on Aberdeen Avenue, is being held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on October 8.
"This project will definitely fill a need in the community," said Johnson. "We currently have over 900 individuals on the centralized waitlist for housing and in addition to that we did have a report completed back in 2021 that outlined that we need almost 2,500 new affordable housing units in the community to meet the need. So, this will help us move closer to that goal."
County representatives will be in attendance showing off design drawings, discussing details and answering questions about the project.