Larry Horwitz is looking to tap into city grants and tax rebates to build 23 new apartments in downtown Windsor.
The former Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association chair will be adding the new units to the historic YMCA Building at 511 Pelissier St. that he first renovated and renamed The Chelsea back in 2006.
He'll go before the Development and Heritage Standing Committee Monday looking for $208,750 in incentives under the Community Improvement Plan.
Committee Chair Rino Bortolin says 27 residential units already exist in the building and Horwitz is looking to convert commercial space on the ground floor to create more.
"That property has been there for quite some time, but a combination of the market going up as well as the CIP incentives now makes it viable for him to convert much more of the space into residential units," he added.
Bortolin says the new units will keep the momentum going for the area of Pelissier Street between Wyandotte Street and Park St. West.
"There's the building down the street that was approved months ago, the old Jaeger House. There's the building next door The Hive, which should be online in the summer," he says. "All told, that block of Pelissier Street could see as many as 80 to 90 new units this year."
The Ward 3 Councillor says commercial spaces on Maiden Lane and on Pelissier Street are starting to thrive for the first time in years.
"Adding 80 or so new units in that area this year will add anywhere from 150 to 300 people to that area that are living right across the street from all these businesses," he says.
Administration is recommending the committee approve $2,500 per unit up to the maximum of $50,000 under one provision of the CIP.
Bortolin says the project is also expected to be approved for rebates on the increased tax roll for up to 10 years at a total of $158,750
If approved, Bortolin says grants and rebates are only provided when the project is completed.
The Development and Heritage Standing Committee begins its live stream Monday at 4:30 p.m.