BANFF – Banff Housing Corporation is potentially interested in building price- restricted apartment style units on its lands on the 300 block of Banff Avenue close to the downtown core.
The Town of Banff is seeking public input on future housing development through an online survey at www.banff.ca until Oct. 12. It’s open to people who meet Banff National Park’s eligible residency rules and would like to purchase a home.
Alison Gerrits, the Town’s director of community services, said no decisions have been made on future housing developments on Town-owned lands on Banff Avenue and Cave Avenue.
“Our intention is to learn about what housing types people are interested in potentially purchasing in Banff, and the associated price points they would be able to afford,” she said.
“We want to continue to address the challenges of affordable housing in this community and for council to be in a position to have as much information as we can give them for any future decisions.”
Banff Housing Corporation (BHC) purchased two lots at 338 and 340 Banff Avenue for $1.3 million in 2013. Initially, there was talk of a $9.3 million, 36-unit apartment complex there.
The Town also has six lots at 145-155 Cave Avenue, which were released by Parks Canada in 2015, along with six lots for the Ti’nu affordable housing apartments on Coyote Lane that added 131 units to Banff’s rental stock.
The release fee for Coyote Lane was $550,000 and the price for Cave Avenue was a nominal fee of $1. All lots were released by Parks Canada at 89 per cent under the market-assessed value of $6.7 million.
The land discount was contingent on affordable rental housing projects being built.
Land on Cave Avenue had been eyed by the Town of Banff for more than a decade.
The on-again, off-again project was before council in July 2017 when council directed administration to proceed with a detailed financial forecast, site suitability and pre-design work for the lots.
Gerrits said the work that’s been done to date includes the site analysis and geotechnical work, which needed to be done prior to pursuing any other steps related to any development.
She said public consultation started with a survey to Cave Avenue residents and an open survey to people interested in rental units, but more consultation would be required before a project moves ahead.
“At this time Cave Avenue is still most likely our next affordable housing development, and the preliminary work that has been done on the Cave Avenue site will be available and useful regardless of the project timeline,” said Gerrits.
BHC has built 173 family housing units for home ownership in the Middle Springs area. These units were sold at below-market cost through a sublease agreement with the housing corporation retaining an equity share of the total value of the unit.
In addition, the corporation acquired 10 apartment-style condominium units built in the downtown core. This year saw the completion of the 131-unit Ti’nu affordable rental housing project on Coyote Lane.
