This article was previously published on CambridgeToday.
The old Grand River Hotel on King Street East in Preston has been prepared for construction of a 46-unit affordable housing project.
Now all that's needed is $17.2 million in funding to begin the work.
Indwell, a Christian charity group that provides supportive housing and wrap-around services to its tenants, is in the midst of a fundraising push in hopes of securing the bulk of the funds to get shovels in the ground.
"We're in the financing phase of the project," Mark Willcock, community engagement coordinator for Indwell, said.
"We've essentially done the work at the site to get it ready for construction. It's been cleared and levelled, so it's a clean slate."
Of the $17.2 million needed, $2.5 million is being collected from the community via private and corporate donors, foundations and grants.
To date, Indwell has secured or received pledges for $1.6 million, including a $125,000 gift from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada and a "significant pledge" from Pearle Hospitality, the company that owns the Cambridge Mill.
The remaining $14.7 million will come from federal, provincial and municipal levels of government through affordable housing grants. On the federal level, conversations will include the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Willcock emphasized that securing the community portion of the funding is critical when having discussions with various levels of government.
"It’s not just that we're a charity and we know there’s a need but the community also sees there’s a need and is supporting us financially," he said.
"We do want the majority of the funding in place before we put shovels in the ground. We don’t want to make financial commitments if we don’t know we have the money."
The other important aspect of construction is in regards to heritage.
The original building on the site, formerly the Queen's Hotel, is believed to have been built sometime in the mid to late 1800s. Several alterations and additions have changed its appearance over the last century.
All work must comply with the Ontario Heritage Act, which Willcock said isn't an issue as everything that must be maintained has been and will be after working through the heritage process with the city.
"Heritage Planning staff required the submission of a Heritage Impact Assessment to evaluate the heritage value of the underlying structure and assess the impacts of the proposal on heritage elements," Jeremy Parsons, senior planner of heritage for the City of Cambridge, told CambridgeToday last year.
"Despite the fact that the building has been heavily altered, the property was determined to meet several criteria to merit designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act."
Given an entire tear down of the building was not proposed, just portions without heritage value, it was exempt from the need for council review under the act but did go before the Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee.
Indwell's hope is to open the building in 2026, although Willcock stopped short of estimating when work would commence.
"We're looking forward to moving ahead with this project and providing some greatly needed housing in Cambridge," he said.
"We're happy to be part of the Preston community."
Anyone interested in supporting the project can visit indwell.ca.
