The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is looking to turn a long term care facility in Chatham into affordable housing.
A report going before Council on Monday evening recommends purchasing the building that houses Meadow Park long term care home at 110 Sandys Street in Chatham and 3.02 acres (1.223 hectares) of land from Jarlette Health Services for nearly $1.7 million plus any associated closing costs.
The municipality estimates it would cost almost $8.9 million to renovate the building and create more than 34 one-bedroom and bachelor sized units.
There is also enough vacant land on the property to possibly create more units or sever a portion of surplus land to divest in the future to reduce costs, according to the municipality.
Meadow Park is constructing a new facility at Keil Drive North and McNaughton Avenue West in Chatham to replace the building on Sandys Street and is expecting to welcome its first residents by Spring 2026.
Administration will ask Council to approve the acquisition Monday night at its meeting and if it's approved, architectural designs , feasibility studies, and development cost estimates will then be completed and finalized with a report to return to Council.
"Property at the corner of Sandys Street and Popular Street in Chatham would be an ideal location to develop an affordable housing build geared towards adults and seniors," wrote Chatham-Kent Director of Municipal Housing Development Ray Harper in his report. "The existing building is in satisfactory condition with no major concerns. Any minor concerns with the building would be mitigated during the renovation process."
The municipality said the proposed project is close to the downtown core and on site parking is adequate with room on the property to create more parking if needed.
Construction could begin as early as late Spring 2026 and the building ready for occupancy sometime by the end of 2027, the municipality said.
Administration is also being directed to keep trying to get grant funding from upper levels of government for the capital costs and potential partnerships for affordable housing options and report back to Council with options by early 2025.
The project would be funded from a future long term debenture with annual debt payments funded from an existing affordable housing base budget, according to Harper.
The municipality noted its Centralized Waiting List (CWL) of households in need of affordable housing increased from 1,224 in July to 1,250 in August.
According to the municipality, 25 per cent on the waiting list are seniors needing one-bedroom units, 42 per cent are adults under the age of 65 needing one-bedroom units, and 33 per cent are families needing multi-bedroom units.
"There has been an 8.5% growth in the past three months. If this degree of growth continues, Chatham-Kent could be at an unprecedented 1,400 households on the CWL by end of 2024," wrote Harper.
He noted 70 per cent or at least 875 of the 1,250 current households on the waiting list are looking for units in Chatham.