More people, more houses, more work in Belle River

Housing builds are up, realtors are busy and construction jobs are plenty as more people are moving to Belle River.

Young families and retirees are moving to the town from Windsor and the GTA, attracted by the affordability, said Phil Dorner, broker of Record with Louis Parent Real Estate. The new arena, marina and newer schools have been a draw for many families and retirees.

• 45% of Windsor renters paying too much income toward housing, say advocates
• 150 affordable housing units coming to Windsor's east end

"It's just a great place to live and there's just a lot of stuff to offer here," Dorner said.

Windsor Essex has been known as the most affordable place in Canada, and although he said it's not that anymore,there is still "a lot to offer and our prices are still not crazy as compared to Vancouver and Toronto."

Belle River remains a sellers' market, even if it has slowed a bit recently. Dorner said lakefront property is in demand. There is also a lot of new construction and about eight subdivisions being built.

New home demand

BK Cornerstone Design and Build is one of the many companies building in Belle River. Brent Klundert, the vice president, said there are many different developments in the area and availability is the main game in town.

Soon, it will open up land near Belle River high school for a new subdivision with enough room for 63 lots for single family detached homes.

"At this point and time, we are hoping that it doesn't slow down," Klundert said. "The boom has been great. We hope that it continues on for the next foreseeable future."

The pick up started about two to three years ago. He said BK Cornerstone's output has doubled when comparing where they were three years ago to today.

But keeping up with the builds comes with some difficulties.

"There's definitely been a labour shortage in this area," he said. "It's been a big, big factor for the last probably two years. Things have really opened up which means there is lots of jobs in our sector."

Need for construction workers

Filling those jobs is something the Unemployed Help Centre in Belle River is trying to solve. Brandy Pyne, the site manager, said employers are looking for people to do basement work, roofing, framing, plumbing and electrical work.

"I think it's been increasing overthis year, even last year there was an increase and a lack of a pool of people to fill those positions," Pyne said.

According to the Unemployed Help Centre, one client had three years of steady work just to frame houses. Pyne said there are also a lot of open availability in Belle River for apprenticeships.

"Lakeshore, Belle River area seems to be an area of growth withpopulation, so of course it opens up more opportunities because these people need places to live."