If Hamilton wants more housing, city should stop selling its land, researcher says

Late last year, Hamilton city council reviewed some of its own land to see what options there are to build affordable housing.

It found parking lots and vacant sites in the lower city, on the Mountain and in Stoney Creek, and staff projected at least 150 affordable housing units were possible between the sites.

"There is some movement in the right direction," Graham Cubitt, the director of projects and development for affordable housing operator Indwell, told CBC Hamilton.

But the city must do more if it wants to address the growing housing crisis in Hamilton, he said.

Home prices, rent prices and the number of people living on the streets have grown dramatically in the past few years as the demand for housing has outpaced supply. Some developers are alsosittingon projects to try and increase profit margins.

"The city has to stop thinking that the market is going to deliver housing for a big chunk of our population. If you're making under $80,000 in Hamilton there is no market housing for you," Cubitt said. "Nobody wants to build apartments that rent for less than $1,500. We have to come up with some other mechanism."

A recent report from the University of Waterloo suggested public lands are "key" to fixing the problem and cities need to stop relying on the market to build the types of housing cities need over the most profitable types of housing.

So, just how much publicly-owned land is there in Hamilton? And how much of it is being used for housing? CBC Hamilton approached public institutions in the city and mapped out the results.

Use the map below and zoom in or clickto see city parking lots, and vacant and surplus sites owned by public institutions

"It shows a lot of potential," said Brian Doucet, a University of Waterloo associate professor who focuses on housing and is a co-author of the report.

Karl Andrus, executive director of the Hamilton Community Benefit Network, agreed, saying the map shows there's "immense opportunity."

The map shows the city owns over 20 vacant or surplus properties.

Of those roughly 20 properties, nine are going toward the city's affordable housing initiative. There are also three properties for sale with zoning that allows for housing. Others are up for sale or under review.

About half of the city-owned properties are in the core or the central lower city.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has five vacant sites, McMaster University has one property it is trying to sell and Mohawk College has one vacant site.

There don't appear to be any current plans for any of those to be used for housing, but McMaster and Mohawk both have student housing options and McMaster is developing more student housing.

Andrus, Cubitt and Doucet also say the city should take a closer look at its roughly 57 parking lots as potential spots for future housing.

"They are a very easy site, most of them, to build affordable housing," Doucet said. "Asurface parking lot should be on borrowed time."

'If you own the land, you can set the rules'

City spokesperson James Berry said in an email the city is in touch with developers and non-profit housing providers and pointed to Hamilton's housing sustainability and investment roadmap.

"We continue exploring various strategies to move work forward, including some of the suggestions mentioned," Berry wrote.

The roadmapstates the city intends to "make publicly-owned lands available for the building or funding of affordable housing" in some cases, but may also sell surplus lands not suitable for housing and put money from the sale toward affordable housing.

Berry also said the city's new budget has money dedicated to:

• Building more affordable housing and shelter spaces
• Developing strategies for a winter response and ways to support local food banks
• Money to protect tenants and sustain housing providers.

Michelle Baird, director of the city's housing services division, previously said identifying vacant buildings as potential places for housing may seem like a quick solution but is "far more complex" than people realize.

She said a site would need to meet building codes and zoning requirements. And if it was to become a shelter or housing of some kind, a third-party may be needed to operate the space.

But Andrus, Cubitt and Doucet all say the city should stop selling its land and using the profits for affordable housing.

"It's like chopping off your arm to feed yourself,"Andrus said.

It wouldbe easier, they all said,if the cityleasesits land to developers and non-profits who can build and operate housing the private market isn't motivatedto create like affordable housing, rent-geared-income housing, subsidized housing and co-op housing, among other things.

Itcouldalso spare tenants fromhuge rent hikes in newer buildings, since anything built after 2018 isn't subject to provincial rent control.

All three note 171 Main St. E., and The Bridgeworks Community Space on Barton Street as especially great spots for future housing.

Otherwise, there may be more developments like at the former Hamilton City Centre, which developers are currently sitting on until it becomes more profitable.

"The key thing to remember about public land is if you own the land you can set the rules," Doucet said, adding that many sites on the map are near the future light-rail transit corridor. "The best approach is to tackle the problem head on with assets you already own."

"I see this as a hopeful map," Cubitt said. "This is city land, we can help ourselves ... we have some ability to control our destiny if we want to.

Buy former school sites, experts say

Andrus, Cubitt and Doucet also say the city shouldn't pass up opportunities to buy land for sale by school boards, colleges and universities at the appraised value, instead of letting the sites go to the private market.

They all point to the former Delta Secondary School as an example of a missed opportunity by the city.

When HWDSB put the site up for sale, the city had a chance to buy it for the appraised value of $5 million. Instead, it passed and the school went onto the private market.

Indwell and the Hamilton Community Foundation bid just over $5 million, pitching a mix of housing options on the lot.

They lost to a $15 million bid by New Horizons Development Group, which is building a 14-storey condo on the site.

"This was a huge missed opportunity and quite frankly shouldn't happen again," Doucet said.

"We need to be ambitious. We need to be proactive."