HERITAGE HELPING HOUSING: ACO CALLS FOR NEW GRANT

HERITAGE OTTAWA

Heritage Ottawa has written to local Ottawa area MPPs at Queen's Park in support of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario's (ACO) proposal for the creation of a Heritage Helping Housing Building Grant, a matching grant in support of the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings for housing.

The ACO is Ontario’s leading non-governmental organization on built heritage and cultural heritage places.

The proposed application-based provincial grant of $10 million/year is in keeping with the ACO’s and Heritage Ottawa’s belief that strong heritage protections are consistent and compatible with addressing Ontario’s housing crisis.

The Helping Heritage Housing Building Grant is based on an existing program in Alberta that encourages owners and developers to maintain and renovate existing buildings.

To be eligible for a Helping Heritage Housing grant, a property would have to be a municipally designated heritage building and the proposed work would have to create new housing units, with matching grants capped at $100,000 per housing unit created.

Benefits of Adapting Heritage Buildings for Housing

In its Pre-Budget Consultations report to the provincial Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, ACO states that the repair and reuse of existing buildings offers a faster, cheaper and more sustainable path to affordable housing:

• Under-utilized heritage buildings (commercial, government, industrial, schools) can be re-purposed for housing, minimizing need for new infrastructure, such as sewer and water;
• Adaptive reuse reduces project costs by as much as 16% by avoiding demolition costs as well as reducing the use of new materials;
• Older durable materials like wood, stone and brick have a lower carbon footprint and greater longevity compared to new materials;
• Keeping older buildings helps a community remain visually richer and enhances identity while building its tourism and appeal.

Heritage Ottawa believes that heritage properties are community assets that play a strong supporting role in addressing the housing crisis, and in so doing ensures their revitalization. 

ACO is urging people to contact their MPP and are providing a “two-pager” and slide deck with information you will need.

For more information contact Lynne DiStefano or Dan Schneider of the ACO.