The Nova Scotia government is spending $5 million to kick start a Sydney housing project, first announced last spring. The development at the old Tartan Downs horse race track is being promoted by a local non-profit group on land owned by Cape Breton University (CBU). According to plans made public last March, the Urban Neighbourhood Development Association is looking to build as many as 430 units in what would be a brand-new neighbourhood. It includes townhouses and apartment buildings on 9.7-hectare property CBU bought almost three years ago.
The money is coming as part of an $8-million funding announcement to increase housing options for post-secondary students." Students would be free to rent apartments on the site, but the project does not specifically set aside any units for students, either from CBU or the local community college.
Kent Macintyre, President of the Development Association and Manager of Special Projects at CBU, told he expected students would be able to afford some of the apartments being set aside as ‘affordable housing’.
"Students would be living in one of those units, whether they prefer one-, two- or three-bedroom units," said Macintyre. "Using the CMHC [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation] template for [the Cape Breton Regional Municipality], which is 80 percent of the median rents, one bedroom would be $560 [a month] and about $640 [a month] for a two-bedroom."
He said the $5-million contribution was the largest commitment to date for the project and could help pay for the installation of services ahead of construction. He estimates it could cost $7 million to put in streets, sidewalks, sewer, and water lines. “We've been challenged putting that together in a package for funding and so this $5 million may very well kick start things on an infrastructure standpoint," said Macintyre. "We'll talk to our provincial friends about directing that money in that vein.”
Macintyre hopes work on the project will start in 2023 and some of the first apartment buildings will be open in 2024 or early 2025. We have Cape Breton University that desperately needs housing," said Wong.
