54-unit townhouse development proposed for Rothesay

Article content

A 54-unit townhouse development planned for Rothesay should make homeownership more attainable while boosting the town’s housing stock at $400,000 apiece, the developer behind the project says.

Local developer Stephen Maltby of MR Investments Inc. said the homes he plans to build – one to two levels each and priced in the low $400,000 range – should be within reach of first-time homebuyers and seniors looking to downsize.

“They’re homes that will have mortgages that are similar to two-bedroom apartment rentals,” Maltby said at a public hearing of his application held this week at Rothesay Town Hall.

Located off Kaitlyn Street and School Avenue near Fairvale Elementary School, the new subdivision will hold eight blocks of townhouses.

Maltby, who is also the developer behind last year’s successful proposal for a controversial subdivision in the Hillside neighbourhood, said the project will add mid-density homes to the town’s inventory.

He said his intention is to complete construction of all 54 units within 36 months of receiving rezoning approval.

“It will address the need for more housing in the community,” he said, labelling them as “more affordable than a detached, single family home.”

Maltby said the $400,000 price tag could be shouldered by a young family working full time on $20 to $25 per hour wages or seniors looking to sell, with his presentation showing monthly mortgage payments at about $1,900 with 20 per cent down.

Not everyone who attended the public hearing agreed with this assessment.

Wendi Barrett, who lives on nearby Isaac Street, questioned the attainability of $400,000.

“It’s not affordable housing for any of the seniors that I work with in the community,” Barrett said. “They’re all saying the same thing: ‘Where do we go? We can’t downsize because we can’t afford rent. We can’t downsize because to buy something new is more expensive than what we have.’”

But Shirley Goguen of Kaitlyn Street, who spoke in favour of the project, said the price was in range of what a first-time homebuyer like her grandson could manage.

“I think the days of getting a house for $200,000 are over,” Goguen said. “$400,000 is not unattainable for young families, especially.”

Jeff Cyr, executive director of economic intelligence and real estate for Envision Saint John, spoke in support of the development, telling council that increasing housing density, like in the case of a townhouse development, is a growing trend across the country to keep costs lower.

New-build single family homes have gone up in cost by 40 to 50 per cent since 2019, he said, coming in around $600,000 to $650,000.

“One of the key ways that developers make housing more affordable is density,” he said. “Generally speaking, for a townhouse development like this, probably it would mean anywhere between $50,000 and $75,000 less spent a unit, so the difference between a $425,000 and a $500,000 for a first-time homebuyer.”

Other neighbouring residents who spoke at the public hearing expressed concern for increased traffic, especially at the Isaac Street and Gondola Point Road intersection.

“Coming out of Isaac (Street) in the morning is almost impossible now,” said Russell MacDonald of Kaitlyn Street.

Tracey Davis, who lives on Isaac Street, said the development would essentially be “doubling vehicle traffic.”

“What I love about (Rothesay) is that it feels like a small community,” Davis said. “But you keep that small community feel with the pockets of subdivisions that we have, because they aren’t expansive or mass traffic volumes.”

Town Manager John Jarvie said staff are aware traffic volumes in the area are currently already at a level requiring traffic control.

“That wouldn’t wait until the end of this project necessarily,” Jarvie said. He noted that the subdivision currently has only one entrance, but this will change with the townhouse development with the extension of both School Avenue and Kaitlyn Street.

“This project , in the opinion of staff, would be the first step in getting us an alternative exit,” Jarvie added. “An alternate exit can be valuable from another standpoint, certainly in the case of emergencies and traffic congestion and so forth.”

The application will now go before Rothesay council to consider a zoning bylaw amendment.

– With files from Brunswick News Archive