Kingston city council votes to proceed with non-profit housing corporation merger

It was a unanimous vote with no discussion by Kingston city council members to begin taking the next steps to merge Town Homes Kingston and Kingston & Frontenac Housing Corporation.

Town Homes Kingston was struggling two years ago. In 2018, under its powers as service manager, the city of Kingston ordered an operational review.

The review by KPMG found Town Homes Kingston had governance, financial stability and health and safety issues, including three years of operational deficits.

On July 23, 2018, the city of Kingston then declared Town Homes Kingston a “project in difficulty.”

The merger of the two non-profits would see the Town Homes Kingston assets turned over to KFHC in an asset purchase agreement still to be worked out.

Town Homes properties include 397 apartment and townhome units.

The report that went to council also identified $340,000 that will be saved by reducing the number of administrative staff.

Mayor Bryan Paterson says the move will help the city’s affordable housing issues.

“I think there’s the case that by combining the two organizations there will be opportunities to be able to not only improve the existing affordable housing that we have, but also look for ways to leverage more,” Paterson said.

While the city is ready to move forward, the municipality still needs to receive the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s stamp of approval.

The mayor says if that is received, the merger should move forward fairly quickly.

“If all steps are a go and everything goes according to plan, then potentially by the end of the year the merger would be finalized,” Paterson said.

Following that Town Homes Kingston would be dissolved as a non-profit housing corporation in the city.

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