Namerind's $110-million Regina affordable housing project parked for now

Namerind Housing Corporation, which provides affordable housing and other services primarily to Regina's Indigenous population, is ironing out some details about its proposed $110 million project at 1840 Lorne St.

In the meantime, the lot for the proposed project has been used as a parking lot, with Namerind collecting money from people who use the space.

That will continue for the foreseeable future, as representatives from Namerind asked to keep the space a temporary parking lot until the end of 2020. Regina's city council approved that request on Monday.

"The reason for requesting the extension date is to allow us adequate time to continue to work with CMHC [Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation] and Indigenous and Northern Housing Solutions in pursuit of funding under the new national housing strategy core investment fund," Robert Byers, CEO of Namerind, said to council on Monday.

Byers said the lot at 1840 Lorne St has been owned by Namerind since 2014, when it purchased the land from the province.

In 2015, the city approved the demolition of two buildings on the site and Namerind asked council to use the empty lot for parking until 2018.

Byers said the money the parking lot currently generates is used to maintain the property and help Namerind pay taxes.

"It's important, that's for sure," Byers said, adding it brings in roughly $20,000 per month.

He said the company doesn't want to profit off the land, it wants to use the money it generates to build a multipurpose building with 170 affordable housing units, along with a parkade, retail and office space.

The group also needs more time to complete working drawings and specs, acquire more funding for the project from private funding institutions and acquire a cost for construction, among other things, according to Byers

Byers said he expects construction to start in 2021. He said if all levels of government aren't involved in making Namerind's housing project a reality, then some land may be up for sale after the 2020 deadline.