Calgary, AB,
09
December
2013
|
08:25
America/Denver

Celebrating the Grand Opening of Lumino South; providing Affordable Housing choices for Calgarians

Calgary, AB – Alberta Minister of Human Services Dave Hancock, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra joined Calgary Housing Company Board Chair Brian Pincott at today’s opening and tour of Lumino South, another great affordable housing solution in Calgary’s southwest.

 

“Affordable housing choices are an important foundation for building strong communities,” said Minister Dave Hancock. “With the opening of Lumino South, more Calgarians will have an opportunity to live in affordable homes, in a vibrant neighbourhood.”

 

Located at 5717 2 Street SW, Lumino South is an 88-unit affordable housing development which offers one and two bedroom units for low to moderate income Calgarians, including those with mobility challenges. It is ideally located close to amenities such as parks and shopping, and has convenient access to transit.

 

Lumino South is the result of collaboration between The City, the province and a private developer, Kanas Corporation. Additionally, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation provided predevelopment funds to examine the feasibility of the project. This project shows how different organizations can join forces to make a real difference to the health and vitality of our city.

 

“Today's opening of Lumino will provide quality affordable housing for 88 families," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. "However, the lack of quality affordable housing continues to be a major challenge for our city and we must continue to find ways to work with the province to collaborate on more projects such as this one."

 

Lumino South is part of Lumino, a comprehensive mixed-use development that will include commercial, retail and recreation space. Lumino South is the only City-owned affordable housing tower in Lumino, and the first building to be completed. The other buildings are currently in various stages of development, and the vision is for these privately operated towers to provide housing in the affordable and entry-level market. These buildings include a west tower (114 affordable housing rental units), a north tower (121 market housing units), and town homes (five market housing units).

 

“Affordable housing is an important part of improving the quality of life for Calgarians,” stated Calgary Housing Company Board Chair Brian Pincott. “The housing choices offered across the entire Lumino development is part of a deliberate effort to support residents being able to move from subsidized rental to market housing within the same complex, part of the long term solution for housing affordability.”

 

Rental of the affordable housing units at Lumino South is managed by Calgary Housing Company with a mixed-income approach. This model has proven to be very successful, integrating units that pay rents below, but close to, market rates with rents that are deeply subsidized. This approach ensures that new affordable housing developments are financially sustainable while remaining inclusionary.

 

Lumino South is projected to be BUILT GREEN ® Silver certified, with sustainable features that include a superior building envelope, triple pane windows, water saving fixtures, and energy saving appliances.

 

Total funding for the development of Lumino South was $24 million via $18.46 million in provincial Affordable Housing Block Funding and $5.54 million in funding from the City of Calgary.

 

This project is part of The City’s Enterprise Housing Program, a program that creates new affordable rental homes through a buy/build/partner/incentive approach. The development will help to meet the growing need for affordable housing, now and in the future.

 

 

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