The city is looking to help one low-income family by renting out a vacant home that sits on land acquired to build a connection to Anthony Henday Drive.
The city will rent a house that sits on a former acreage site at 1 Sir Winston Churchill Ave. The city bought the three-hectare parcel to accommodate the widening of Sir Winston Churchill Avenue and the extension of LeClair Way, which are part of the Anthony Henday connector program. But the house isn’t in the way of road construction and is still in excellent condition so council agreed Monday to allow it to be rented to a low-income family.
“The city is certainly lacking rental properties for low-income families so this is one small part that we can [do to] overcome that,” said Coun. Malcolm Parker. “Better to make use of it than just have it sit vacant.”
The city’s temporary residential services committee will find a suitable family by reviewing its list of those who are housed in unstable conditions, either because they’re paying more than they can afford for rent or don’t have enough space.
“We know we have a handful of those,” said Linda Knoblauch, community development co-ordinator with St. Albert Family and Community Support Services.
She stressed the city isn’t inviting applicants to rent the home. Also, consideration will be restricted to families who don’t qualify for the city’s rental assistance program. She hopes a family can take occupancy April 1.
“What it would mean is an opportunity for them to be in a situation that’s affordable so they can move forward,” Knoblauch said.
The occupants will have access to a front and back yard but the outbuildings on the site will be fenced off, Knoblauch said.
Built in 1973, the home is a three bedroom, 1,250-sq.-ft, walkout bungalow valued at $353,000, says a city background report. The house has no value if demolished and would fetch between $5,000 and $15,000 if it was moved. Renting the house at a below-market rate was administration’s recommended option.
“We know that there’s a shortage of affordable housing in St. Albert. It was an opportunity that really just presented itself,” Knoblauch said.
The rent is targeted to be at least $875 to ensure the city covers its costs of maintaining the site, which amount to about $9,800 a year.
The city will hire a property manager to act as the landlord and have its in-house lawyer draw up the rental agreement.
The city bought the property for $1.9 million last April.
City administration identified three other options for the property, including renting it at market rate and using the house as a satellite city office. The fourth option was to demolish or remove the house and retain the site as vacant land for 10 to 12 years until it’s required for a water reservoir.
