A former medical office building in downtown Windsor has been transformed into new affordable housing units.
Officials gathered Friday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at ‘The Grace on Ouellette’ apartment, located at 1106 Ouellette Avenue.
The project was announced in 2023 and saw the former Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare building converted into 19 permanent affordable housing units through a partnership involving the federal and provincial governments, the City of Windsor, Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation (CHC), and Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
The development was originally planned for 15 units but was expanded to 19 through additional support from project partners. Five of the units will be reserved for participants in the HART Hub program.
The building features fully accessible studio apartments on the main floor with rent set at $790 monthly and one-bedroom units on the second floor with rent set at $893 monthly, with parking in the rear and laundry facilities on site.
Fabio Costante, CEO of the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation, says tenants have already begun moving in.
“We still do have units available and they’re being reserved for the recipients of the HART Hub. So the majority of our units have already been leased out. But it finished within the last few months and as you can see it still smells like a new kind of unit inside and we’re really grateful and proud of the end product.”
The affordable housing project comes as demand for housing continues to rise across Windsor-Essex, where more than 7,000 individuals remain on the affordable housing waitlist.
He says while one project alone won’t solve the housing crisis, every new unit makes a difference.
“We’re talking about 19 individuals and families who previously were finding it challenging to access affordable housing now can access affordable housing. But I go back to the simple notion that let’s not always get bogged down by the big challenges we have, let’s focus on the small things that we can do every single day that lead to big change. And this is one of those steps in that direction.”
Costante says having dedicated units for those going through programming at the HART Hub was crucial.
“The first phase as they go through the recovery journey is done at Hotel-Dieu and then they get placed in the community at permanent residences and this would be one of those places while maintaining a reasonable level of support from healthcare providers and others and also receiving some subsidy funds to help pay the rent.”
15 tenants have already moved into the building, with the remaining four expected to move in over the next several weeks.
This project was made possible thanks to $4.5-million in provincial and federal funding and $400,000 from Windsor City Council.
Total construction time was approximately 15 months. CHC is the landlord and property manager for the building.