SASKATOON – As the affordable housing crisis continues in Saskatoon, a vacant building on 20th Street is set to be transformed into residential accommodation with a twist.
Advocates hope it’s a new approach that will catch on to help meet the shortfall.
525 20th Street West has a notoriously bad reputation in Saskatoon.
“Because of the type of suites that were there – shared accommodation – it brought in a transient type of tenant so because of that, the police even had keys of the property, they were here daily,” said Tyler Stewart, Stewart Property Holdings developer.
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It’s been sitting vacant for the past four years but now with the help of the provincial government its set for rejuvenation and will provide some much needed affordable housing.
“We have to look at any innovative way that we can make housing work for people who need affordable housing. If it’s a vacant building we’ve got to make sure it’s structurally sound and I think that there are lots of options out there,” said Paul Merriman, Saskatoon-Sutherland MLA.
“There are lots of properties around Saskatoon and actually across the province that aren’t being utilized and when you’ve got vacant buildings you might as well use them, the infrastructure is there, the building is ready to go.” said Shaun Dyck, Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership.
The facelift will see two floors converted into 12 one and two bedroom rental suites.
The plan is to turn the lower floor into a restaurant and retail space offsetting the costs, allowing the residential accommodation to be more affordable.
“Our plan is to be well below market rents, our budget now is for the one bedrooms to be in the $700 per month range and the two bedrooms in the $900,” said Stewart.
The suites are expected to be complete by next spring.
The government has put $490,000 towards the $1.5 million project.
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