The City of St. John’s has gone from lacking ambition to exceeding expectations for federal housing funding.
It was only 18 months ago that then-minister Sean Fraser scolded the city for its modest goals.
But an update for council this week says the city is now ahead of the game, confirmed by the recent receipt of $2.6 million under the feds’ Housing Accelerator Fund.
It’s all thanks to the success of nine new initiatives providing incentives for residents to expand and developers to build.
The city is now eyeing an additional $5 million from the fund to make it more viable to convert vacant commercial properties into residential housing.
St. John’s City Councillor Ron Ellsworth (VOCM News)
Ron Ellsworth, council’s lead on housing, acknowledges that won’t work just anywhere.
“We’ve heard a lot about commercial, vacant properties in the city, we’ve heard a lot of issues and concerns,” he said. “There’s a portion of the city that this will work for, and a portion of the city it won’t work for. Primarily we would see this focused from Lemarchant Road to the downtown core.”
