The largest affordable and co-operative housing development in Niagara will be built at the former Hotel Dieu Hospital site with an injection of $183 million from the federal government.

The funding announcement was made by St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle as officials celebrated a groundbreaking at 159 Ontario St. near Welland Avenue for The Collective Housing Co-operative.

“The impact this investment will have on lives here in St. Catharines cannot be understated,” Bittle said.

“The project announced today will give more of our neighbours across St. Catharines the safety and stability of home.”

The project, initiated by Drew Toth, chief executive officer of real estate development company Elevate Living who pulled together partners, will have 492 apartments that are studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Ninety-nine of the units will be accessible with full barrier-free designs.

The ground floor will include commercial space, with plans to try to bring in a grocery store or other services that residents would benefit from having on site.

It will also have 368 underground and ground-level parking spaces, including 13 accessible spaces and electric car- and scooter-sharing services.

“We see the bricks, we see the mortar, we see the affordability aspect,” said Doug Sider, executive director of Golden Horseshoe Co-operative Housing Federation, which has 10,000 members across Niagara and Hamilton.

“What we don’t see is the fact that an entire generation of families in Niagara will have a safe, affordable place as long as they choose to live there.

“When folks move in, they will not sign a lease. They will sign an occupancy agreement that does not expire. There will be no profit-taking. Any surplus will be reinvested into the building. And as a longtime co-op member myself, there’s no better way to live.”

The building will be owned by The Collective Housing Co-operative, a non-profit member-led community. The co-op is governed by a non-resident founding board that will transition to a majority resident member board once people have moved in.

Council approved official plan and zoning changes to make way for the apartment building on the roughly 1.2-hectare site last July. At the time, Toth said the building would have rental units with 10 per cent priced as affordable units.

Since that time, Toth’s team was busy researching how it could bring the project to the 100 per cent affordable model.

He said Thursday his company always wants to see how it can maximize social outcomes, including maximizing carbon emissions reduction, affordability, accessibility and quality.

His team researched what federal programs were available and learned about the co-op development fund. He then called Sider from the Golden Horseshoe co-op and asked if it would be interested in working together on the site.

Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada came on board and supported the application for federal funding while the team concurrently gathered as many other grants as possible through the city, Region and Enbridge Savings by Design for affordable housing.

Toth said he was incredibly exited but he will be happier when he sees people with keys in hand.

“We stop and we need to celebrate because it’s so much work just to get here, but the true moment of joy is seeing people move into a brand new quality unit,” he said.

“I mean, where can you move into something with this view, this quality of finish and this level of amenities? The walking score is off the chart, the transit score is off the chart … It’s just a 10 out of 10 for us, really.”

Backing onto Highway 406 and Twelve Mile Creek, the tower will be 18 storeys with an L-shape fronting along Ontario Street that is nine storeys. There will be a rooftop patio with barbecue and amenity spaces that will include a pickleball court.

Toth said the target for completion is 36 months, with borehole digging starting next month.

Michael Norris, manager of co-operative housing development for Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, said nearly a quarter-million people across every province and territory live in co-operative housing, which is about 95,000 homes.

Still, he said there are not enough co-op homes to meet demand with wait-lists often extending 10 to 15 years.

He said The Collective is a fantastic project and is a significant addition to St. Catharines’ stock of affordable housing, particularly for households that move into the accessible units.

“Canadians want more co-op housing. It’s no surprise why. Co-op housing has a true proven track record of creating diverse, secure, mixed income communities that we are all proud to call home through the partnerships that we demonstrate today.”