With fresh paint drying and landscaping about to get underway, a 50-unit affordable housing development in Sarnia is gearing up to open its doors to local residents this fall.
The three-storey, Kathleen Avenue Housing Project, is being constructed at 471 Kathleen Avenue by the County of Lambton.
Housing Services Manager Melisa Johnson said construction has moved along quickly, with a lot of cosmetic imperfections being touched up now.
"On the first floor they're almost done the interior of the units, we're at the deficiency stage," she said. "Second floor we should be doing deficiencies later this week and then [on the] third floor we should be starting next week with deficiencies. Then they'll be moving into the interior common spaces as they work their way out of the building."
Johnson said some significant changes will be noticed on the outside of the property soon.
"On the exterior, the curbs and sidewalks are in, the parking lot will be paved next week, then they'll be doing some site grading and you'll start seeing some landscaping happening on site," Johnson said.
Right now, she said the project is expected to be completed on time and on budget.
"We are anticipating that we'll get occupancy from the city, so from the planning side, in September and we'll have our first tenants move in either late October or early November," she said.
All of the units are one bedroom rent geared-to-income apartments, including 14 supported by March of Dimes.
"We have started the rent selection process," Johnson said. "So, working with March of Dimes on their selection, as well as starting to call people on the waitlist to see if they're interested in the project. So, lots happening and we're super excited to be at this finish line and hoping to see people move in, in the next eight weeks or so."
The full reconstruction, including road, water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer, of Kathleen Avenue has yet to delay any work on the building.
"We have been working very closely with the city, and our contractor has been working very closely with the city's contractor, to try and mitigate any possible delays in terms of access to the site," Johnson said. "There's no guarantees that there won't be some minor delays, but we're all working very closely together to make sure that both projects are completed in a timely manner."
According to the County of Lambton's monthly homelessness data, there were 338 unhoused individuals in July, up from 316 in June.
The monthly stats showed that while 21 exited homelessness, 57 became newly homeless or re-entered the system after some time. Also, 14 individuals gained housing through local programs.
