Proposed Durham Development Concept Drawing
West Grey council is going to have its staff work with a developer on an attainable housing proposal for Durham.
During a meeting on April 4, council received a delegation from Jason Tremble of JT Excavating and Don Tremble of Candue Homes.
The delegation proposed developing 16 attainable housing units, consisting of one semi-detached unit, one four townhouse unit, and two five townhouse units along Park Street West.
Jason Tremble says he defines attainable housing by hitting a price of 80 per cent or lower compared to the fair housing market in the area.
He estimates the cost to buy one of these proposed properties to be between $550,000 and $575,000, which would fall within 80 per cent of an average house sale in the area.
Park Street West, which is already in the municipality’s two-three year reconstruction plan, has already been partially serviced by JT Excavating, according to the delegation, and four units have already been completed with three more underway by Candue Homes.
As part of the delegation, Jason Tremble proposed partnering with the municipality to fully reconstruct and upgrade the existing road and services across the entire frontage of the property at no cost to the municipality.
It would include working on curbs, gutters, storm sewers, and water and sanitary, coming with an estimated cost of $400,000.
Additionally, they also requested the waiving of fees equaling $151,000.
“Park Street West is in need of a full reconstruction and is planned to be completed in the next two to three years anyway’s. This is a pro-active approach to have the work completed ahead of development rather than reconstructing an already urbanized area,” says the delegation. “The fees we are requesting to be waived are significantly less than the cost would be for the municipality reconstruct the road and services at a later date.”
This project, according to the delegation, could also result in over $850,000 in collected tax dollars over the next 10 years.
Mayor Kevin Eccles says staff will need time to come back with a proposal moving forward with the project and will work with the Trembles.
