Leong: Public sector has role in creating affordable housing

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We Albertans love to think of ourselves as free enterprise types but sometimes, listening to what people say, I wonder if this is actually true.

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Recall the recent public hearings at Calgary city hall about blanket rezoning, with particularly attention to some of the comments from those opposed to making it easier to build different types on low-density housing in neighbourhoods where, currently, only single-family homes are allowed by default.

The argument went something like this: we don’t like rezoning because it will only make developers rich.

Interestingly, this argument is also used by people who dislike greenfield developments. Weird how things work, sometimes.

Anyway this got me thinking … since when do we expect private corporations to work for free?

A company is putting up money to develop (or redevelop) land and build a house, assuming some risk upfront with the prospect of a financial reward later. Is it unreasonable for the firm to cover its costs and collect a bit over the top to allow for future company growth, with a total price tag which the market can bear?

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Besides, is this not the driving force behind much of our present-day economy? Somehow, I doubt the housing sector would find itself suddenly become exempt.

This of course leads to another objection to duplexes, triplexes, row homes and the like: will these new houses be affordable?

Relative to what’s already in any particular neighbourhood, the answer is often yes.

What would have been a new infill house in an older, central neighbourhood costing a million dollars or more might be two or three homes instead, each costing much less than that.

The effect would be same in areas farther out, but at a lower price point.

But while these types of residences would certainly ease market pressures, they would not be objectively inexpensive homes.

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Developers and home builders — whether it’s for greenfield or infill construction — are not charities. And while it would be cool if they want to behave like one from time to time, I don’t think it would be fair to expect this.

Rezoning in and of itself won’t create any form of super-low-cost housing, and it’s practically certain we’ll need to make additional efforts within a larger housing strategy.

Enter the public sector — because in theory, while it’s not expected for private enterprises to behave like charities, governments often should and sometimes do take on such roles — and witness the excruciatingly slow evolution of a three-sided patch of city property in Sunnyside, just a few steps south of the CTrain station bearing the same name.

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Anyone new to the city might only know the spot as a cute park with a few repurposed shipping containers acting as a mural-filled art space.

But despite its longevity, the current setup is really only temporary, with the expectation of something eventually to be built there.

In the past, it was home to some kind of city depot. The buildings were removed sometime after 2009, with public consultations held a few years later about what to do with the space.

In 2016, the site was identified by the city as being ripe for development as part of its affordable housing strategy of the day. Fast-forward to 2024 and only now is the actual rezoning process underway, with city-owned group Attainable Homes Calgary proposing the construction of an apartment building there, as part of the city’s new affordable housing plan.

We need more of this from all levels of government — and on a much accelerated time scale. It should not have taken more than a decade for the site of a demolished city depot to be repurposed into much-needed rental homes.

I’m sure there are plenty more unused and underused public spaces like the Sunnyside triangle site, whose potential for creating truly affordable housing is waiting to be unlocked.

What are we waiting for?

rleong@postmedia.com

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