The fund targets the construction or acquisition of affordable rental projects, according to Gondek, with a commitment to retain below-market rents for a minimum of 20 years
A new City of Calgary housing program will make available $60 million for affordable housing initiatives over the next three years.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced the new funding program — called the Housing Capital Initiative (HCI) — at city hall on Thursday. Applications will be open until Oct. 10 to charities, non-profit organizations and Indigenous groups who are seeking capital funding to build or acquire affordable housing.
The fund targets the construction or acquisition of affordable rental projects, according to Gondek, with a commitment to retain below-market rents for a minimum of 20 years.
She added that organizations committed to providing homes to low-income Calgarians can apply for up to 30 per cent of a project’s total value, which can be leveraged to unlock contributions from provincial, federal, private sector or philanthropic partners.
The city stated in a news release Thursday that they expect housing partners will leverage the $60 million to acquire at least $140 million from other levels of government and/or other sources of funding.
Gondek likened the HCI to a “seed funding” program for below-market housing projects.
“This program is intended to offer capital to applicants who need that boost,” she said. “By giving them access to this type of capital, they’re going to be able to make the purchase of land they might need or the purchase of the building, for example.”
Program part of city’s housing strategy
That strategy — called Home Is Here — seeks to increase Calgary’s market and below-market housing supply by 2030 through a variety of programs and incentives.
Gondek cited Calgary’s rapid population growth — the city welcomed more than 200 newcomers a day last year, and is projected to welcome 110,000 more in the next four years — to put in context the city’s demand for housing.
“The scale of the housing challenge we face is significant,” she said, adding that one in five Calgary households “are unable to afford” their housing costs.
As an example of how the HCI can benefit lower-income Calgarians, Gondek said an aging apartment building that may be slated for redevelopment can instead be purchased by a non-profit agency that is committed to keeping affordable rentals available.
“We see what happens every day when people are without a home and we simply will not let people suffer like this,” she said. “Today’s announcement means Calgary projects can move more quickly from ideas to becoming reality.”
‘Investing early’ improves chances of receiving additional support: non-profit CEO
Bernadette Majdell, the CEO of HomeSpace Society — a non-profit housing provider in Calgary — called the program a “smart move” by the city to get below-market developments off the ground, as it shows higher levels of government that organizations have municipal financial support to complete their projects.
“By investing early, the city improves our chances at federal and provincial support for much-needed affordable housing,” she told Postmedia, using one of HomeSpace Society’s own projects as an example.
“If you think about our office-to-affordable-housing conversion project Neoma, the city kick-started our fundraising with an early $5.5-million investment which made raising $30 million in 12 months possible,” she said. “The more funds for affordable housing we have, the more we qualify to get, the more housing we can build faster.”
If the program proves popular, Gondek said another funding round could be made available in the future.