NDHC: New owner of 65 affordable units for seniors in North Bay

With an eye to its overall affordable housing strategy, the Nipissing District Housing Corporation (NDHC) is the new owner of Mackay Homes in North Bay, a move that prevents the complex from being sold to private investors.

After thriving for many years under management by volunteer board members, the MacKay Homes Corporation is transferring its land and buildings at the 65-unit seniors' residence on Olive Street to NDHC. With the transfer, current residents will continue to occupy premises under their present leases. NDHC will make the outgoing board whole as part of the agreement and will officially assume control Friday.

The units at Mackay Homes will be added to the NDHC housing stock of more than 830 rent-geared-to-income and market rental units within the District of Nipissing. The NDHC's mandate is to provide safe and affordable housing to those who need it the most, as well as support healthy, secure communities for its tenants.

Catherine Matheson is the CAO of both the NDHC and its parent organization, the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board, and hopes the transfer will be a seamless one for the residents of Mackay Homes.

"The leases will stay the same," observes Matheson. "There will be no change for the people who are currently living here. We're maintaining the affordable housing aspect for these tenants and future tenants."

"On behalf of Mackay Homes Board of Management, I wish to recognize the vision and contribution of the founding Board members who saw the need for this facility together with succeeding volunteer Board members who unselfishly contributed their time, energy, and commitment to see that it succeeded," says Nestor Prisco, President of Mackay Homes at a ceremony marking the transfer, Tuesday.

"The interests of the residents and the continuation of low-cost housing have been uppermost in the minds of the Mackay Homes board of management. Nipissing District Housing Corporation is the optimum landlord to achieve that objective," says Prisco. “As the new owner, NDHC is adding Mackay Homes to its housing inventory, bringing their professional competence in administration and operations to the critical housing market for low-income seniors."

"When DNSSAB and NDHC were approached by the Mackay Homes Board, it was clear this property could have been sold to a private developer, opening the possibility that these affordable units could be lost at a time when this Board is working very hard to increase the number of affordable units in the District," advises Dave Mendicino, Chair of the NDHC Board of Directors.

Avoiding the sale of the complex to private investors played a key role in NDHC moving on the property, agrees Matheson.

"When Mackay Homes approached us, we were quite anxious, it's a beautiful site with a great proximity for seniors," she says. "We did know if we could not meet their philosophy they had other options before them. We're really happy to step in and maintain the services for these people."

That's not to say the rents will remain frozen. As units are vacated or turned over, NDHC says improvements will be made and the rent for the new tenant — although remaining in the same realm of affordable housing — will reflect that.

"These rents are very affordable when compared to the market," Matheson adds.

"Not only is NDHC pleased to add Mackay Homes to its existing stock of affordable units, it will also be looking at ways to make affordable housing more sustainable," Mendicino added.

That sustainability comes, in part, through a Deep Energy Retrofit Plan that is being developed for NDHC and funding obtained through this plan will be applied to Mackay Homes. The plan will assess the ways and means to implement the new technology of deep energy retrofits to increase productivity, operating performance, and enhance service delivery.

"The acquisition of these additional 65 units not only assists DNSSAB in meeting its commitment to the Province, but it also takes into consideration the availability of affordable housing going into the future, says Mark King, Chair of the DNSSAB Board. “The acquisition of this project was prioritized by DNSSAB and aligns with Ontario’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy by maintaining affordable housing units and stabilizing the community housing sector."

Affordable housing — and the need for NDHC to develop more with the backing of the provincial and federal governments — is a common topic of discussion around the DNSSAB table and the CAO says the organization is preparing to leverage itself financially to help make it happen. The high cost of new builds may push NDHC to grow and improve what it already owns.

"We're looking at the expansion of different sites we have across the Nipissing District, explains Matheson. "We have more plans in the works."

The DNSSAB remains 136 units below the provincial standard for affordable housing in the district. Matheson says, "We've done a lot in the last two years," to address this shortfall. "I'm sure in the next three to four years this will be at par with the expectations of the provincial government."

Over the past term, NDHC and DNSSAB Boards have prioritized affordable housing through various initiatives including:

• Reduction in NDHC corporate footprint through the sale of 129-133 Main Street West to enable further investments in housing by NDHC;
• Increased financial and capital reserves by $1.3M through the sale of NDHC properties to leverage with other resources for future affordable housing development
• Issued Expressions of Interest (EOI) and Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for affordable housing development potential, when funding becomes available. This process garnered significant interest from developers and the community with project proposals received from 13 different developers for a total of 21 projects, and approximately 1,137 units proposed;
• To continue engaging partners and stakeholders in the private, public, and non-profit sectors to leverage collective resources and increase the supply of affordable housing through various capital projects and developments, such as Northern Pines.

Mackay Homes was incorporated in 1962 as a private company to supply and render services of a charitable nature to elderly citizens. Its success over the past 60 years has been largely due to the volunteers who ran the corporation and to initial financing assistance through Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), now known as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

DNSSAB is the NDHC’s sole shareholder as well as the Service Manager for the District. In this role, the DNSSAB provides the local housing corporation with sufficient funding to maintain the housing stock in good condition, and make it available to eligible households. The Province sets standards for the
number of rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units for each service area.

DNSSAB has gained 56 RGI units that contribute toward its Service Level Standards since 2020. The addition of the 65 units at Mackay Homes further decreases that requirement to 136 more units. As well, site development work has been conducted at 1040 Brookes Street and construction is being planned for next year for additional units.