The City of North Bay is recommending North Bay City Council conditionally approve the conversion of a 60-townhouse complex into condominium units, to be sold for less than $200,000 each.
The project is still in the draft approval phase and the condominium conversion proposed by Bernard Divona on behalf of the property owner, SIREG Holdings (North) Inc., will be open to discussion and voted upon during a special meeting of council on Monday, Oct. 30. The approval is conditional upon SIREG entering into a condominium agreement with the City of North Bay.
According to the associated staff report, if approved, each of the 60 converted condo units located in 11 separate buildings at 350 Oakwood Ave., in North Bay would go up for sale at less than $180,000 each, while giving the existing tenants an opportunity to purchase their home and also guaranteeing no change to their current rental arrangement. The fixed prices proposed by SIREG are $169,000 for 3-bedroom units and $179,700 for 4-bedroom units. The existing 60-unit townhouse-style residential development predominantly fronts Oakwood Avenue with some units along Burns Street.
SIREG "is proposing the creation of an investment vehicle through the condominium conversion process. SIREG's business model will allow investors to own individual dwelling units, which the current property owner (SIREG Holdings) would then rent out to tenants and manage on behalf of the investors ... SIREG further explains that the individual tenants would see no change to their current rental arrangement. Finally, it states that over the longer term, the individual units would be upgraded and improved."
Using a formula that takes into account recent local rental vacancy rates and whether the units qualify as affordable housing, City of North Bay staff recommend the draft approval.
"Affordable" housing is defined as:
1. housing for which the purchase price results in annual accommodation costs which do not exceed 30 per cent of gross annual household income for
'Low- and moderate-income households'; or
2. housing for which the purchase price is at least 10 per cent below the average
purchase price of a resale unit in the regional market area
Peter Carello, a senior planner, determined both definitions are met with this proposal.
"Condominium conversions have both benefits and drawbacks to a community," Carello writes in his report. "The downside is that there are rental units that are leaving the available rental housing stock. Having fewer available rental units could equate to having less housing choices for renters and could result in higher rental rates over time if new rental housing stock is not being developed.
"However, the conversion of these units into individually owned condominium units creates homeownership opportunities that may not otherwise be available within the community. There are a few examples of this type of housing choice elsewhere within the community. These properties seem to be successfully operating and their units often represent some of the most affordable homeownership opportunities in North Bay’s real estate market."
