New affordable senior complex opens in south Lethbridge
Seniors in Lethbridge will have a new place to call home in less than a week. The Cottages at Southgate feature a new 64-unit complex, focusing on affordability.
“So, the market rate for the units will be $1,250, the rental assistance benefit that is available for seniors in need will be up to $400, so lowering those rents to about $850,” said Robin James, CAO of the Lethbridge Housing Authority.
The $15.8-million project, located at 720 Southgate Blvd. S., features units equipped with one bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen, living space and laundry facility. James said demand for the new units has been high so far.
“We already have 40 applications on file and no one has even been in the units until now. I think already 34 or 32 have already accepted the units and they haven't even seen them,” James said.
Currently, the Lethbridge Housing Authority has 600 applications for housing, with 200 of those being for seniors.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen said he’s heard from the older population in the community that there are only a few spaces available for rent.
“We always need space for seniors so they can age in place and many of them like to do that,” Hyggen said. “I know when we first started looking at this and other projects – it’s been years and years – all the time I’ve been on the board, we’ve been looking into projects like this. To see this actually open today, it’s simply amazing.”
The project is expected to not only help seniors find affordable homes, but other residents in the city.
“Because of the Lethbridge Housing Authority work, it’ll open up other spots in other areas of the city to pull in others who are in need of affordable housing in the city,” said Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf.
The Lethbridge Housing Authority says seniors will start to move into their new homes in Southgate in late August.
Attracting affordable housing to the city has been on the list for a few years now for former city councillor Rob Miyashiro.
Miyashiro currently serves as the executive director of the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization and said he's pleased with the opening.
“Any amount of affordable housing for seniors or for any groups or marginalize groups is needed in the city,” he said.
Miyashiro said affordable housing is more than just housing.
“It’s a whole range of things. It’s accessibility, it’s location, it’s how close they are to transit, how are the people able to get in and out,” Miyashiro said.
Officials said protecting the environment was a key point for the project throughout the design and construction process.
“This project has exceeded the CMHC requirements of a 55 per cent reduction in operating energy consumption and green house gas emissions,” Hyggen said. “This project is the largest residential solar panel projects in our community.”
The Lethbridge Housing Authority says seniors will start to move into their new homes in Southgate in late August.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.