Chatham-Kent Council has acquired additional land for potential affordable housing projects.
During Monday’s meeting, council approved the purchase of three Park Street properties and the former John N. Given school property at 92 Churchill St.
The former school was purchased from the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) for $1,625,000. Most of the funding will come from the Children’s Services Mitigation Reserve, with the balance from the Affordable Housing Reserve.
Because of the daycare currently operating in the building, Councillor Ryan Doyle asked administration if the property would remain exclusively for affordable housing when the time for development came. A point Municipal Housing and Property Development Director Ray Harper acknowledged.
“Right now we’re just looking at, like the report says, affordable housing options for redevelopment and perhaps any recreation use as well,” said Harper. “Administration needs to take time to review potential options for the property. But certainly, we view at this point in time it would be a great place for family affordable, both mixed and attainable market development.”
Councillor Michael Bondy voted against the purchase, citing council’s growing inventory of municipal properties.
“We just bought St. Agnes, now we’re buying more property. We’re not doing anything with them,” Bondy told council. “I think we should just hold off and let a developer buy it and build some houses on it and leave it to the private market to take care of this stuff.”
Council voted 16–2 in favour of purchasing 92 Churchill St., with administration expected to return in early 2026 with development options.
Council also voted 17–0 in favour of buying three additional Chatham properties, with Bondy not casting a vote.
The municipality will purchase 398 Park St. for $290,000, 406 Park Street for $210,000, and 410 Park Street for $300,000.
The Park Street purchases will be funded through the Affordable Housing Reserve, which is supported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Accelerator Fund.
According to the staff report, “administration will proceed with demolition of the houses once they are vacant and incorporate these land parcels into the surrounding Park Avenue East property housing development.”