Officials praise partnerships for building activity
A ground-breaking ceremony for a new retirement home on North Park Street is part of the momentum building for new types of housing in Brantford..
Members of the Bawa family celebrated the construction work that will now begin on their new Woodwind Retirement Home, which expands the Bawa Hospitality Management group’s holdings in the city which, until now, have been focused on the hotel industry.
The home will offer 99 units and create full and part-time jobs for 50-70 people on the former Free Methodist Church property.
Architect Linas Saplys of API Developments said he and his firm have designed numerous retirement homes.
“This is going to be as modern as you can get – very user-oriented, comfortable and homey with technology and personal care at the top of the list.”
Danny Bawa said the home isn’t considered a departure from the hotel business for his family.
“It’s a need right now. There’s a lack of retirement homes. We’re in the hospitality industry and we’re extending that hospitality to retirement homes.
Bawa and his family partners own and operate the Hampton Inn (Hilton), TownePlace Suites (Marriott) and the Affinity Conference Centre.
Mayor Kevin Davis said he was encouraged by the number of new projects creating living space in the city, including the new Sienna Living long-term care facility on Lynden Road and a modular housing project on Colborne St. West for those who have been using the local shelter system.
“There’s a lot happening and it’s due, in part, to our partners coming together – the city, the federal and provincial governments,” said Davis.
“Over the last four years it’s building momentum and, hopefully, it’s going to have a major impact on our housing needs here.”
Davis said the city has seen plans for a number of retirement homes over the last few years and is now seeing “shovels in the ground”.
The ground-breaking was also attended by councilors John Sless, Greg Martin and Dan McCreary as the Ward 2 facility sits on the edge of Ward 3 as well.
The mayor thanked the Bawa family for the confidence it has shown in building in Brantford and the provincial government for changing a funding formula that has spurred housing projects.
“The previous Minister of Long-Term Care, Merrilee Fullerton, made a substantial regulatory change that allowed this,” said Milan Novakovic, representing Will Bouma at the event. Milan said changes will support both retirement homes and long-term care facilities.
In fact, on Friday the Ontario government announced it was increasing construction funding subsidies and fast-tracking work that will develop or re-develop long-term care homes.
It’s part of Ontario’s $6.4 billion commitment to create more than 30,000 net new long-term care beds and 28,000 upgraded beds by 2028.
Paul Calandra, minister of Long-Term Care said in a news release the move will assist developers facing rising construction costs and interest rates.
“(This) will help move the construction of much-needed long-term care homes forward, resulting in … thousands of new long-term care beds across the province by the end of next summer,” said Calandra.
Eligible projects that start construction by August 31, 2023 will get an additional subsidy of up to $35 per bed, per day for 25 years, an incentive of up to $31.9 million for a 100-bed home.
Eligible not-for-profit facilities will be allowed to convert up to $15 of the supplemental funding into an up-front construction grant that will increase their equity and help secure financing.
MP Larry Brock said the old way of doing things where municipalities and developers worked alone is changing to new partnerships that include the provincial and federal governments.
“This is the most sensible solution,” Brock said.
Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2023 on the new Sienna Senior Living home that will replace Fox Ridge Retirement Community with completion by 2025.
The 160-bed home will have private and semi-private rooms and focus on infection prevention and control best practices.
Residents from Fox Ridge will move to the new facility once it’s complete.
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