SUNDRE – Although a Calgary-based developer’s plan to convert the former Foothills Lodge seniors living centre into a variety of rental units remains unchanged, a timeline to complete the vacant building’s renovations has yet to be determined.
“We’re basically in a hold pattern at the moment,” said Joel Bond, who in 2023 presented to the municipal council his vision to turn the two-storey structure into a mix of rentals including one-bedroom units and studio apartments.
“We’ve been approved from the town; it’s just finding the sort of appropriate funds to get that work done,” Bond told the Albertan recently.
He confirmed the plan as presented to council last year remains unchanged for a design that would include 17, one-bedroom units as well as nine studios for a total of 26 suites for rent.
“We have a good plan, an approved plan to get going,” he said, reiterating the need to secure the financing to move forward.
Having previously received financing through a provincial program to proceed with a project to breathe new life into an aging nursing facility in Calgary that is some 50 years old, Bond said there’s only so much capital to go around.
“Some of the funds that I thought were available to do Sundre have kind of been rerouted into that project in Calgary,” he explained.
“That’s kind of taken over as our principal focus.”
But in keeping open the lines of communication with the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding’s MLA Jason Nixon, Bond said he’d been informed about an impending round of requests for proposals through a provincial initiative called the Affordable Housing Partnership Program.
“That was something we were kind of gearing towards to find that sort of affordable debt to get that project done,” he said.
“There’s nothing open at the moment, but I was told they will be accepting proposals in the fall.”
To qualify for lower-interest financing through that program, Bond said partners – which according to the provincial government can include public, private, and non-profit groups – must allocate a certain percentage of a building’s available rooms as affordable rental units.
“It’d be a little bit of a split between some affordable housing units and just some regular rental units,” he said.
That could involve offering some of the studio suites at the provincially-determined affordable rental rate while opening up the remaining one-bedroom units to the public to “see where that goes,” he said.
“It’s just jumping through a different set of hoops to hopefully get the … debt that we can put on the place,” he said.
Additionally, the building is also approved for outside use, he said, meaning that people in the community could hypothetically have access to a kitchen and reception area to host events such as birthday parties or family reunions.
“The extent to which that would be used is largely unknown,” he said. “But we have facilities within that building that would be, hopefully, of use to the public and the community; that’s kind of our goal.”
One way or another, Bond said he is still determined to “trying to definitely find a way to do it.”
While repaying debt incurred in the making the project a reality must of course be factored into the overall equation, the objective is not necessarily exclusively about turning around massive amounts of profit.
“It’s really more returning the building into a usable part of the community, is the goal,” he said, adding when asked that he has no intention of walking away from the project.
“I look at that building as still a very valuable asset; it’s just that it’s taken longer to get to its destination than I think anybody would have hoped,” he said.
“Sometimes, patience is the hardest thing,” he said. “But in this case, I think that’s kind of where we’re headed with it.”
