City council voted to take a closer look at three surplus properties to determine whether or not they would be suitable for affordable or attainable housing use for Stratford.
Two of the three properties – 38 Coriano Street and 161 East Gore Street – would have a Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) process to gauge developer interest in them, while a third property, located at 246 Railway Avenue, would have a Request for Proposal (RFP) that would see two new affordable housing units created in the existing structure in the most efficient and economically sustainable way possible.
Kendra Fry, investStratford’s housing specialist, explained the different reasoning between seeking REOIs on two properties and an RFP on the third as a type of audition on the part of developers so the city can determine their plans.
“An REOI gives developers the opportunity to tell us about themselves, what they are considering doing with the site and how they propose to do it,” she said. “It doesn’t have the higher standards of an RFP which would be expected to have more financial details, more fleshed out drawings and such. So, it’s a way to open conversations with developers and make known our desire to develop the land without creating undue work at an early stage.”
A management report presented as part of the council package October 15 included a breakdown of each property, including timelines, cost and an approximate land value:
- 246 Railway Ave would have 2 units / developed by the City of Stratford over a timeline of 9 months - 1 year / a $350,000 renovation budget / nominal value due to the need to sever a well head and scale of land
- 161 East Gore would have the potential for 15-18 units / an REOI process for NFP/mixed marker developer over three years / the cost is factored out at 80-120 hours of staff time / valued at $550,000-$600,000
- 38 Coriano Street would potentially have 12 units / REOI process for NFP or mixed market developer over three years / 80-120 hours of staff time / valued at $850,000-$1,050,000
Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach commented during Fry’s presentation that she would prefer to see the city retain these properties but also asked what the best way would be to entice not-for-profit groups to become involved in developing them. Fry said it’s a-typical for a city to develop their own land and bringing in an outside developer would likely happen.
“This could take the form of Stratford donating land and an agreement of how affordable the units will be for a period of time,” she said. “Or it could be a joint venture with the city where the city continues to have a voice at the table and stake in the project long term and continues to maintain equity in the process. Or, a developer could build mixed market housing and pass the management of the below-market rates to the city of an organization such as United Way Housing – there are a lot of different agreement forms and more being developed every day. The REOI process gives us the opportunity to explore these on Coriano and East Gore, but Railway will be a straight RFP for a construction company to complete the needed renovations and then it will be run and owned by social services.”
She added that the most significant concerns the municipality might have in this process is the unknown of what a developer would propose, saying they are the experts on how to make the most of a land opportunity and there will be a need to provide servicing to the sites and possibly rezoning if deeper density is desired than what she presented to council.
In a best-case scenario, Fry said that the Railway Avenue property is the most likely for a quick resolution.
“It will be fast and provide an immediate solution, while Coriano and East Gore will take longer as there is much due diligence to be done in creating relationships with developers to create affordable housing,” she said. “With the level of demand in Canada right now and the competition to attract not-for-profit or mixed market developers, I do not believe a faster timeline is likely. It is possible that if the developer builds using alternative methodologies (mass timber or tilt wall, for example) then six months or so could be taken from the build process. Otherwise, the process of a city, which requires due diligence, transparency and citizen engagement means that the process will take about three years.”
