Councillors will start discussing what the town should do with two properties under its ownership this week, in an attempt to bring more affordable housing to town.
During their Jan. 8 committee of the whole meeting, councillors will discuss the town-owned properties at 29 and 45 Birch St. and 7882-7888 Poplar Sideroad. The properties have been identified by the town as ripe for development of affordable housing options, and council will consider how best to hit that goal.
Under discussion will be options to put the properties up for consideration for (and potentially sell to) the County of Simcoe to build on through its social housing initiatives, to donate the properties to a future land trust, or for the town to put out a request for expression of interest to the open market.
“Making surplus public land available at no or low cost may be an effective tool as part of a financial strategy that the town can use to help subsidize the development of new affordable housing,” Jenn Rae, the town’s housing development co-ordinator, wrote in her report to be considered by councillors.
How the town can best address its two surplus properties was included in the town’s affordable housing master plan, which was presented to councillors in October.
At that time, N. Barry Lyon Consultants recommended putting the properties up as possibilities for the County of Simcoe’s housing projects. However, councillors expressed concern then that if an application were successful, they would lose control over what happened to the lands.
“Once we offer this to the county, if they take it, we lose control over timelines, focus, over what the ultimate goal is going to be, and I’m not sure I’m fully in line with that,” Coun. Brandon Houston said at the Oct. 30 meeting.
At the end of discussion at that time, council decided to defer any decisions on those properties to a future discussion.
The Johnson Trust Apartments at 29 to 45 Birch St. were originally owned by the Johnson family, where they had been converted from a lumber yard/bread distribution business. About 40 years ago, the property was given to the town and the Rotary Club of Collingwood to jointly manage. While the town owned the land, the Rotary club managed the buildings, where rent collected went toward operational costs as well as Rotary projects. The contract was for 20 years, and was renewed for an additional 20 years. It expired Dec. 31, 2020.
Rotary provided the town notice in 2021 that it was terminating its part of the agreement. The town then retained a third-party property manager to deal with day-to-day operations. There are currently nine apartments on the site, but not all of them are occupied. Some are condemned.
The land at 7882/7888 Poplar Sideroad is currently vacant near the roundabout at Poplar Sideroad and High Street in Collingwood’s south end.
Representatives from the County of Simcoe’s social housing department will be at the committee of the whole meeting to discuss their process. As of now, submitting a property to the county for consideration is town staff’s recommendation. If council chooses to offer land to the county, the deadline for applications is March 1.
The full staff report on the matter to be considered by councillors can be read here.
Council’s joint regular meeting and committee of the whole meeting will take place Monday, Jan. 8 starting at 2 p.m. Any members of the public may attend in person in council chambers at Collingwood town hall, or virtually by Zoom. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the town’s YouTube channel here.
