The Town of Okotoks has negotiated an offer to purchase a parcel of land in the D’Arcy neighbourhood, which will go towards increasing the diverse housing supply.
The future project for the three-acre parcel at the corner of Sandstone Gate and Northridge Drive is in partnership with Westwinds Communities and the Rowan House Society.
The Rowan House Society plans to build 16-units for transitional-housing support, in order to provide families with local access to services rather than needing to travel to Calgary for support.
“We look at a continuum of care when we’re dealing with our clients of domestic violence, so the idea is that it’s not good enough to just provide an emergency situation assistance, we want to make sure that they feel supported as they move along and start to rebuild their lives,” said Timmi Shorr, interim executive director of the Rowan House Society.
“With the second-stage housing, it allows us to stay in touch with these people and provide our services and our programs to them, and offer that extra layer of security and also start moving them so that they can live a life of independence and be free from violence.”
For Shorr, the opportunity to work with the Town and Westwinds on the project will be the key to its success.
“I just want to say how unique and forward-thinking the Town of Okotoks is,” said Shorr. “They looked at the need for this affordable housing piece to address what all of their citizens are needing and they’re looking at it as a partnership piece.
“So many times another organization will go out and try and piecemeal it together an do the best they can, but the power of working with multiple partners makes it so much more impactful.”
A not-for-profit organization, Westwinds Communities provides housing and support services for seniors and subsidized housing for individuals and families throughout the Foothills.
Westwinds Communities has proposed to build a 60-unit housing complex with 15 units allocated as market housing and the remaining 45 serving as non-market, or affordable housing.
Anthem United, the land development and homebuilding company for the D’Arcy neighbourhood, supports the project for the community.
“Providing for a variety of housing options that seamlessly integrate with the community is key to our vision for a vibrant and connected neighbourhood in D’Arcy,” said Anthem United Development Manager Steve LePan in a statement. “Anthem United is a supporter of Rowan House Society and welcomes Westwinds Communities as the developer of the site.”
For Westwinds, the acquisition of land comes as a relief to their affordable housing efforts in the community.
“We’ve been trying to secure land for at least 30 units for affordable housing in Okotoks since at least 2015,” said Westwinds CAO Lauren Ingalls. “We’ve been really challenged to find suitable land that would meet all of our location requirements, and we’re just amazed and thrilled how the Town of Okotoks was able to step forward and secure land on our behalf, especially in such a robust and diverse community as D’Arcy.”
Going forward, Ingalls said their ideal timeline is to open doors in 2021. Between now and then they will be working with the Town for things such as a conceptual design and community engagement and consultation to ensure that the building complements the existing community. Once they have a formal design plan, they can seek grants from provincial and federal partners.
Ingalls stressed her appreciation for the Town’s efforts to increase affordable housing in the community.
“[Affordable housing] is huge. Outside of our flood recovery efforts that we’ve had in High River, it’s been our top priority for the last four years,” she said. “Acquiring the land was] a huge hurdle; it’s winning the lottery as far as we’re concerned. Now we just have to get the work done.”
The two organizations are responsible for the construction and management of the properties.
While the cost for the D’Arcy site won’t be released until all conditions have been met, the project falls within the council’s current affordable housing budget allocation of $3.25-million for 2019 and $1.35-million for 2020.
Both Westwinds and Rowan House have agreed to repay approximately 50 per cent of the land costs.
“Securing this land was an important step to ensuring Okotoks can offer more housing diversity and accessibility options to our community,” said Mayor Bill Robertson in a prepared statement. “Both Westwinds and Rowan House are well-established organizations with significant knowledge in addressing affordable housing needs.”
The project fits within the council’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan and the Affordable Housing Task Force’s recommendations to guarantee that affordable housing is integrated into the community and to make diversified housing a priority.
The Town and Anthem United will proceed with zoning amendments on the land and Westwinds Communities and Rowan House Society can proceed with pursuing funds to begin construction while remaining conditions are met.
