Sixty-four more mixed-income units in south Lethbridge are now available to senior citizens over the age of 65.
“Thirty-four or 32 (units) I think are already accepted and they haven’t even seen them,” said Robin James, the CAO for the Lethbridge Housing Authority (LHA).
And those are being offered at reduced prices.
The rent for 32 of the units at Cottages at Southgate will be set at 65 per cent of current median market amounts from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. That puts rent at around $520 per month.
The other units will be leased at market rates, but with the help of rental-assisted benefits through the province and a one-time grant from the city. That monthly cost is expected to be around $850.
Local officials on hand for the grand opening on Monday said they feel the project’s impact will extend beyond the city’s aging population.
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“This project is specifically meant for seniors and to support them, but what it will do because of the LHA and their work, it will open other spots in other areas of the city to pull in those who need supportive housing,” Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf said.
Anytime you have a project like this implemented in the city is a good thing,” said Rob Miyashiro, the executive director of the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization.
He said he believes the new facility provides an option for those in a period of transition.
“People that aren’t quite ready for those kinds of congregate living settings or assisted living, but maybe they’re not appropriate to be in their own home. Maybe they need something affordable in between,” Miyashiro said.
Meanwhile, the city is looking into extending its grant to help reduce rent costs in the long term.
“We’re going into budget season this fall, so we hope to be able to bring that forward to continue that in perpetuity, or at least for the next budget cycle,” Mayor Blaine Hyggen said.
But with James reporting there are currently 600 people — including at least 200 seniors — on the LHA’s affordable housing waitlist, it’s an issue still in need of a solution.
“We have 800 units scattered throughout the city, that includes community housing and also our rental assistance benefits,” James said. “So that (600) would be a total waitlist number for the need just in our city of Lethbridge and what would be our encatchment area.”
Cottages at Southgate’s first residents will begin moving in next week.