Low-income seniors in northeast Calgary have more options to stay near the communities they’ve lived in thanks to a new development.
Templemont Place and Gardens opened Tuesday with 120 more affordable housing units for seniors thanks to financial support from all levels of government.
“The impact that these new homes will have cannot be understated,” Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal said at the opening.
“It will allow seniors to remain in the community that has been their lifelong home, providing an opportunity for them to age comfortably in place. It will ensure that they can enjoy safety and stability in a home that meets their needs.”
The project built by Trinity Place Foundation consists of two buildings connected through an underground parking garage and shared mechanical equipment. The one- and two-bedroom units feature an outdoor courtyard and common rooms at below-market rents.
“The housing that’s being provided here, it’s more than just a roof over your head. It is a community within this building,” Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said.
“So very often in affordable housing efforts, we don’t really provide that opportunity for community space. This has clearly been designed with intent, in tangible quality of their lives as well, to give them an opportunity not only to live in this extraordinary facility, but also a place where they can live together, where they can make friendships, and it will improve the quality of their life.”
Blair, who was in Calgary on behalf of Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen, said the federal funds that went to the project were in response to an increasingly aging population and the responsibility to make sure seniors have access to housing.
“Our National Housing Strategy recognizes (that) for a very long time all orders of government didn’t do enough work, in my opinion, to really build the housing the Canadians needed to make sure that it was affordable. But everybody recognizes the urgency of the work that we are doing,” he said.
The National Housing Co-Investment Fund put up $13.2 million for the northeast Calgary project, along with $5 million from the Canada-Alberta bilateral agreement under the National Housing Strategy.
The province put up $15 million, and Alberta Health Services added nearly $800,000.
The City of Calgary contributed $354,000 and Trinity Place Foundation added nearly $2 million in cash and land equity.
Another $2 million came through the Resolve Calgary fundraising program.
“Trinity Place Foundation of Alberta is grateful to all who contributed to creating Templemont Place, an independent seniors housing complex,” Trinity Place Foundation chair Susan Mullie said in a statement. “These partnerships are key in creating more affordable housing to benefit the seniors.
“With the rent being 20 per cent below market rates, our seniors can live a better quality of life and be a bigger part of the community. It has been wonderful to see the friendships develop and the community spirit grow within the complex,” Mullie said.
Calgary’s mayor said too often low-income seniors are priced out of the same communities they helped shape.
“Templemont Place will support seniors to remain close to family and neighbours and addresses a gap in affordable housing units dedicated to older adults,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said in a statement.
“Projects like this can’t happen without all three orders of government and non-profit organizations working together. The city will continue to collaborate and deliver on creative housing solutions to benefit all Calgarians.”
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