Now that city council has determined the size of the development allowed at 70 Arlington Dr., Habitat for Humanity Edmonton CEO and president Alfred Nikolai has the job of coming up with a way to fund the project.
In an interview on Tuesday, Nikolai said he has not spoken with Apollo Developments owner Andy Banack since council decided on allowing 28 to 34 units on the 1.2-hectare property that backs on to Attwood Park in the Akinsdale neighbourhood.
"The first thing we need to do is talk to Apollo and see if they still want in on the project," he said, adding that Banack was out of the province and expected to speak with him later this week.
Nikolai said that although the non-profit group received an extension on plans to purchase the property from the St. Albert Protestant School Board, he was unsure of what would happen when he meets with Apollo. Since the original plan called for 58 units, making construction and servicing costs for the property less per unit, Nikolai said the new circumstances would require a lot of number crunching to see what will be feasible.
New partners
Although there are several partners Nikolai said Habitat has worked with in the past, he said it was only right to go to Apollo first and see if it was still possible to make their partnership work and from there, add more people if necessary.
"They've spent a lot of time and money on this," he said. "[But] if we go it alone, we're going to need a lot of money."
The cost of developing a new home, according to Nikolai, is roughly $100,000 plus servicing costs, which Nikolai pegged at the $35,000 mark per unit. That would make it an estimated $4.05 million for the development at a total of 30 units, but Nikolai said there could be changes to that total as time goes on.
"Right off the bat, you need $1 million before you can say boo," he said. "The common costs are the same whether you have 58 homes or 30 homes."
When looking back on the North Ridge development completed last year, Nikolai said the land was donated to the group by a developer and they had partners on board to help with the costs. However, he added the project was delayed until they were guaranteed the money, something he said he would be willing to do, or even build it in stages to make the 70 Arlington Dr. project work.
Fundraising
Despite the issues surrounding creating a new plan for the affordable housing development, Nikolai said Habitat would not give up on the project, seeing it as a chance to help allow families from St. Albert to stay in the city. He added that, should Apollo and other partners decide to back out, Habitat would launch a fundraising campaign to help pay for the work.
"It's going to be a huge fundraising effort," he said. "I'm not willing to give up if they go away."
Nikolai said that he has often been impressed with the number of donors and volunteers from St. Albert and hopes the city will reap the benefits of the settlement.
"We're not doing this for us. The citizens of St. Albert will get the profit."
