Housing society returns $244,000 to city
Innovative Housing Society has finally coughed up $244,000 it owes the City of Red Deer.
The payment on Wednesday closes the chapter on Monarch Place, which was constructed and operated as a handicapped housing project for low-income residents. It operated for two years before the society sold it last July, allowing units to be turned into condominiums.
The city was paid only three weeks before the city was scheduled to seek a judgment in a Red Deer court to force the society to pay what it owed.
Innovative Housing still owes the province $1.17 million.
“I’m totally relieved, but to put our community through all that is really, really unfair and brutal,” Mayor Morris Flewwelling said on Thursday.
Flewwelling said the community still feels betrayed by Innovative Housing, especially since no one in Red Deer was given the opportunity to purchase the building to maintain it as affordable housing.
The building was put up for sale through an Edmonton real estate company.
“But it’s a very happy circumstance that we finally got the money and that we will be able to reinvest that money in affordable housing,” the mayor said.
The 65-unit, wheelchair accessible facility was built in 2005, with the help of a $1.3-million Canada-Alberta Affordable Housing Program grant, $500,000 from the City of Red Deer and numerous donations from the community.
It operated with 26 subsidized units for people who need affordable housing, 20 units for transitional use or for individuals fleeing abuse, and 19 at market rent.
In its contract with the city, Innovative Housing promised to pay back $244,000 of the $500,000 if it stopped providing affordable suites within 15 years.
The city “made numerous demands” for repayment, but the Edmonton-based society refused, state documents filed with the Court of Queen's Bench.
Flewwelling said the city also lost out on the interest that $244,000 could have been making for the past nine months.
Unfortunately, Red Deer took a step backward in its work to help create more affordable housing when Monarch Place was sold.
And it was “doubly painful” since all the units were built to be accessible for people with handicaps, he said.
Monarch Place resident Dave Clish saw his rent jump to $1,000 from $491 when someone from Edmonton purchased his suite to make some profit by renting it out.
Clish said couldn’t afford to stay on at Monarch Place if it wasn’t for a rent subsidy he gets from Red Deer Housing Society.
“I’ve been here since the beginning. I’m the only original one left,” said Clish, who uses a scooter or manual wheelchair due to neuromuscular dystrophy.
He said few disabled people are left at Monarch, which is located in the north Red Deer subdivision of Kentwood.
“It’s not quite as friendly as it was before.”
Some suites were renovated when they were purchased. His suite wasn’t. But he does have a good relationship with the owner.
“I plan to stay here as long as I can, stick it out till the end.”
Mayfield Management Group in Edmonton manages the building for condo owners.
Innovative Housing Society says it put the building up for sale because the city refused to grant Monarch Place tax-exempt status and it faced $75,000 in taxes.
The $6-million complex was listed at $7.2 million at the time it was purchased by Edmonton-based Everest Developments Ltd.
Robert Storrie, spokesman with Alberta Municipal Affairs and Housing, said the province is close to receiving the $1.17 million that Innovative Housing owes. The legal details are being finalized.
On Thursday in the legislature, Dave Taylor, Liberal MLA for Calgary-Currie, admonished the government for not providing an operating grant to Innovative Housing to maintain affordable housing that is severely needed in Alberta.
Taxpayers expect the government to do “good and lasting work with our money,” Taylor said.
On Wednesday, Alberta’s auditor general said Innovative Housing did not break any rules when it sold Monarch Place.
Contact Susan Zielinski at szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.