The Canmore Community Housing Corporation celebrated a further expansion of its affordable housing inventory, Thursday (Nov. 10).
The three new properties, located at 818 Seventh St., were developed by Distinctive Homes and Certified Master Builder Bob Kocian.
At a ribbon-cutting event, Cathy-Anne David, former CCHC chair and seven-year board member, said she was excited about expanding the group’s portfolio of housing; which mirrors the group’s mandate of “providing housing solutions for a healthy and balanced community.”
The addition of the three, two-bedroom (1,100 to 1,500 square foot units) homes was made possible through the Town of Canmore’s Sustainability Screening Report (SSR) process, which encourages community benefit in regard to development projects, said David.
“These are more than bricks and mortar, this is offering three more Canmore households affordable living. One of the amazing things about this is Distinctive Homes is able to provide it at $2.25 per square foot, which is attainable.
“We’ll have three new home owners next week and we’d like to thank Mayor Ron Casey and council for their support.”
Speaking on behalf of council, Casey pointed out that Kocian, “has been a great supporter of affordable housing. In 2004-05, there were lots of builders around, but Bob came to council with the idea of green building and said the level of building could be brought up. ‘We can do better than this’, is what he said.
“These units are a prime example. These were not legislated, they were built because it’s the right thing to do. There have always been excuses not to build affordable housing, people have said they can’t afford to; but the truth is, you can. Bob has showed how, time and time again.
“It shows that if you put something in, you get something back out. And that’s what the SSR is all about, the community getting something back out.”
Kocian said the Seventh Street housing, “is a win-win for everybody. It’s good for us, the town and the people in the homes. We’ve proved we can build environmentally sustainable housing at a good price.
“We want to make sure our customers can live in the town and not have to live elsewhere.”
