Breaking New Ground

Thursday, 15 March 2018 07:17

A brand new affordable housing unit in Woodstock will be the first of it's kind in Oxford County.

OXFORD COUNTY - Developers for Oxford County will be starting construction on a brand new affordable housing complex in Woodstock.

They will be building 34 affordable rental units at 373 Blossom Park Road owned and operated by Indwell Community Homes. Director of Projects and Development at Indwell Graham Cubitt says Blossom Park is the first multi-residential development in Oxford County that will be built to achieve Passive House standard.

"Passive House is about designing really low energy buildings. Passive House has five key principles, one is a very air tight building envelope, high levels of insulation, really high quality triple pane windows, mechanical ventilation, so making sure there is excellent air quality in the building and making good use of the sun's energy by using strategic location of windows. It's really a standard that is about a high quality living environment inside for the occupants while using minimal amounts of inbound energy, so gas, hydro to really cut down the costs as well as the environmental impact of using those kinds of energy sources."

Passive House buildings require as little as 10 per cent of the energy used by typical buildings. Cubitt says they 34 affordable rental units are really going to fill a need in the community.

"We are very excited to be redeveloping the former group home at 373 Blossom Park Road into 34 independent living apartments. It will still be a supported apartment program there but tenants will have their own fully functional apartments as part of the accommodations there. It is meeting a desperate need in the community. People who are experiencing disabilities, mental illness or other kinds of situations where they need both affordability and some support don't have many options in the County, so we are very excited to be offering these independent apartments in that community setting."

This project is receiving financial assistance from all three levels of government. County Council authorized $2,153,270 be awarded to Indwell to develop the Blossom Park project. That figure is comprised of $1,126,795 of Provincial/Federal funding and $1,026,475 of Municipal funding. Indwell and the County executed a 25 year Municipal Housing Facilities Agreement which is secured on the title as a second mortgage. This project will offer rents at a reduced rate compared to other privately owned rental units in the community.

Construction will start in May and the goal is to have tenants moving in by January 2019.