OLDS — Town council has accepted a $15,000 report assessing the community’s housing needs.
Council accepted the report from McElhanney Ltd. during its Oct. 10 meeting.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams and some councillors said the report was a good step and ought to be re-examined on a biannual basis as council thrashes out budgets, but it’s not precise enough.
“It's certainly not perfect. Perfect, costs a lot of money, but it is a first step,” Williams said.
Williams said property developers are looking for more “granular information.” He said a report containing that kind of detail will probably be much more expensive, possibly another $10,000 to $20,000.
“I do believe sustained investment over a long period of time and making this a recurring part of the town's economic development framework is quite valuable,” Williams said.
The report confirmed something council members already knew anecdotally: Olds has a shortage of accessible housing in virtually all sectors in town, including rental units as well as housing for seniors and students and homes for first-time buyers.
Williams said the rate of home construction has slowed since about 2015. Thus, the existing housing stock is aging and in some cases, has been knocked down, creating empty lots, in east Olds, for example.
The report made several recommendations on how to solve the problem – everything from changing the town’s municipal development plan and zoning to providing tax incentives to spur development.
Williams said one example of the kind of more granular data needed was how quickly a housing unit would sell/be occupied, so developers can see money flowing back from that project.
He described that as a “key hurdle” the town needs to overcome.
“What's the return on investment? When does this property start generating income?
“The problem we see here is that we don't have that data for sure,” he said.
“The example that was given to me recently was ‘I could spend $30 million in Olds and have an uncertain absorption rate. Maybe it's 30 days, or maybe it's 180 days on average of these new units.
“Or I could spend $60 million in Airdrie but have guaranteed absorption, whatever rate there is. And so it really is a matter of investor confidence.”
Deputy mayor Heather Ryan asked Williams how helpful he thought the report would be in leveraging provincial and/or federal dollars for housing construction projects.
Williams said it does “check that box” for the kind of information the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is looking for.
He said developers also want to use it not only when applying for CMHC assistance but also private lenders.
Williams said it’s believed the document will be useful for a private applicant that is applying for help via the provincial government’s Affordable Housing Partnership Program.
He said town staff are doing all they can to help developers get in a position to build more affordable housing.
“If there's anything needed from the town, whether it be a specific letter of support or a statement of zoning or what-have-you, we're all hands on deck right now trying to throw darts and hoping one sticks,” he said.
Coun. James Cummings praised the report.
He liked the detail it contained, like the fact the average wage among Olds residents is $82,000 to $83,000 range, well below that needed for the very high-end homes that have been built in places like the Vistas.
He also liked the fact that the report noted that although there are some good manufacturing jobs in Olds, the main employers are in the sales and services sector.
Cummings said another point made by the report is that the “supply and demand gap in one and two-bedroom units is dramatic” and that the vacancy rate is extremely low.
“In my mind, this document shows to our investors -- potential investors -- that if you come here and build an apartment building (with) one and two-bedroom units, you're going to have a waiting list before your building is finished construction, just by using those four points that are presented in this document. So I think that's very helpful,” he said.
Councillors Dan Daley and Harvey Walsh agreed with the points made by their fellow councillors.
Walsh said the housing issues faced by Olds are not unique in rural Alberta. Williams agreed, saying the same holds true across much of the country.
Williams said the report has been shared with “key stakeholders locally and in the development community in the broader central Alberta Calgary region” and is posted publicly on town websites.
