Infill housing projects a success

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This article was published 01/06/2011 (5281 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rick Kroeker can’t say enough good things about his new neighbours.

Kroeker has lived in the North End since 1985 and his property used to face the former Nightingale School.

The school was demolished to make way for more than 20 new infill homes on Manitoba and Pritchard avenues during the past two years.

Kroeker said the new homes have gone a long way in helping to revitalize the neighbourhood.

“The value of everyone’s homes has gone up. The neighbourhood continues to grow. It’s great,” he said.

Since 2007, the city has conditionally approved 199 applications for infill homes through its residential tax credit program, including dozens in north Winnipeg. The program is due to expire at the end of this month.

“Our estimated value of these applications is close to $1 million in tax credits,” a city spokesperson said last week.

While the city program has received applications from more than 50 neighbourhoods, the William Whyte area has shown a particularly high level of interest in the pro­gram. Twenty-one applications have be­en received from area builders since ’07.

“A number of infill houses in William Whyte have been funded as part of the province’s infill housing program and may also have received city-owned lots or funding,” said the city spokesperson.

Since 2008, construction starts on single-family homes in the North End have doubled from 21 in 2008 to 49 last year.

The current infill boom is expected to continue for some time. Construction of a new, $10 million infill housing development west of McPhillips Street is expected to begin within the next month.

Rob Neufeld, executive director of the North End Renewal Corp., said recent infill housing projects have been successful largely because they offer lower income families an opportunity to purchase a new home that they might not otherwise have an opportunity to own.

Coldwell Banker marketed the new homes that were built on the former Nightingale School site. Realtor Joe Pereira said the success of that development has prompted his company to consider future infill housing projects on Vine Street and Whyte Avenue north of Logan Avenue.

 Stan Dueck, the city’s manager of housing development, said Winnipeg is in the midst of a big infill housing push and hopes to eventually have a new home “on every buildable lot in the city.”

The city’s residential infill tax credit program provides up to $2,000 in tax credits on a house valued at $410,000 or less. The objective of the program is to encourage construction of new owner-occupied infill housing units in established Winnipeg neighbourhoods.

The city will provide property tax credits for infill housing construction of single family, duplex and triplex residential units. The house may be a new development on vacant property or redevelopment of land that previously contained a structure.

For more information see www.winnipeg.ca.

rob.brown@canstarnews.com