Huron

Local issues. Ontario-wide lessons.

HURON COUNTY

Goderich Sold the Land for $1. The Result Is 40 Apartments.

The most interesting number in Huron County’s Gibbons Street housing project may not be its construction cost. It is $1. The Town of Goderich sold the site to Huron County for one dollar and reimbursed development fees. The County then developed a four-storey building containing 40 apartments—30 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom units, with eight barrier-free apartments and a mix of affordable and supportive housing. The construction contract was approximately $13.17 million. Current rents are listed at $1,000 for a one-bedroom and $1,200 for a two-bedroom, plus heat and electricity. Water and sewer are included.

The project suggests a different way of thinking about municipal housing assistance. Governments frequently subsidize private housing through grants, development-charge relief, tax incentives or rent supplements. Those approaches can create housing. But the public subsidy may eventually disappear while the private asset remains. At Gibbons Street, public investment created an asset the County controls.That does not automatically make the model cheaper or better. Construction costs still matter. Operating costs matter. Eligibility and rent-setting rules matter. But public ownership creates one potentially powerful advantage: the community has greater ability to preserve affordability over time. That is the next question County First would ask.

What prevents a $1,000 apartment from becoming substantially more expensive in future? What affordability covenant applies? How are rents adjusted? How many units are truly rent-geared-to-income versus simply below current market levels? Those details determine whether the development is affordable housing for a few years or part of the community’s permanent housing infrastructure. Goderich’s $1 land transaction is worth studying because it reframes the debate: If taxpayers are already subsidizing housing, should more of that subsidy create assets taxpayers continue to own?

GODERICH SOLD THE LAND FOR $1. SHOULD MORE MUNICIPALITIES DO THE SAME?

Goderich transferred land to Huron County for $1 for the Gibbons Street affordable-housing development.

Today the site contains a County-owned 40-unit apartment building.

That presents an alternative to giving incentives to private developers in exchange for temporary affordability.

The government builds an asset—and the public keeps the asset.

But readers have raised an excellent follow-up question:

The rent is affordable today. What guarantees that it remains affordable 10, 20 or 30 years from now?

County First is going to follow that question.