In an effort to keep young families in the community while also attracting new ones, Sackville is taking an innovative approach to ensure home ownership is within easier reach for first-time buyers.
The town has hired Stonehouse Consulting Marketing Group to come up with a one-of-a-kind residential development model, a project that aims to make it simpler for families to purchase a home in Sackville, where the limited housing market can sometimes be out of reach.
“In Sackville, it can be a challenge to find homes that are affordable,” said Ged Stonehouse, the consultant working on the project. “So we’re going to be looking at creative ways for people to be able to transition from rental housing to home ownership.”
The idea, he said, will be to design a subdivision-type development that will feature modest but attractive homes, with a variety of housing styles, walking and biking trails, and plenty of green space – a place that residents would be proud to call home.
“The concept will be to create a really nicely designed community,” he said.
The desire is also to make it a green community, with the developer being encouraged to take advantage of as many environmentally-friendly technologies that are practical.
In the time since the contract was awarded, significant work has been going on behind the scenes to try and get this creative housing development off the ground.
Stonehouse, in collaboration with town staff, has been looking at options for property in the area, meeting with planning and engineering staff as well as community housing groups that have been working for years to assist with affordable housing, and trying to get in touch with potential families who would want to be part of this project.
The town will be assisting in a variety of ways to find efficiencies in developing this site – such as looking for potential infrastructure support, planning, communications and seeking out developers with which to partner.
Once the package is put together, which will include a site plan and a business case, potential developers will be invited to bid on delivering this project for the town.
“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble attracting a developer,” he said. “They’re still going to be able to make a profit with this project; it’s just that we’ll be gearing them towards the style and type of development it will be.”
Stonehouse has also been reviewing other similar models across the country, including one in Alberta which has a foundation program that provides assistance to families for their down-payment.
The contractor said although he can’t guarantee the same will happen here, he is working with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and New Brunswick Housing to “put some tools in place to help people with the transition.”
Rebekah Cant, acting director of the town’s community economic development department, said the housing development will hopefully appeal to existing families but also to others in the southeastern New Brunswick region who might consider relocating to Sackville if this type of housing were available
Stonehouse agreed, saying the small-town university appeal of Sackville is a drawing card because of the community’s diverse arts and culture scene as well as the vast number of recreational and sports programs available for youth and adults.
“Sackville really has so much to offer . . . so this just allows a whole other level of families to partake in it.”
Stonehouse has applauded the town for being the first community in the Maritimes to take on a project like this.
“The future of our communities is our young families and we need to make it as easy as possible for them to be able to live and work in the community,” he said.
Families who would like to be a part of this project (or families who have recently purchased their first home) are asked to provide their input through a short survey that will help the contractor get a greater understanding of the needs, wishes and desires of potential new homeowners.
The survey can be accessed on-line at sackville.com or paper copies are available at town hall. Families can also sign up to be kept up-to-date on the status of the project.
The idea behind expanding Sackville’s housing supply to include more affordable homes for first-time buyers was one of the key recommendations set out in a housing study conducted for the town last year by David Bruce, director of the Rural and Small Town Programme at Mount Allison University.
“That study was what sort of prompted the next steps to moving towards affordable housing,” said Stonehouse.
