With the ceremonial groundbreaking out of the way, it’s full steam ahead for construction on The Alexander Muskoka Residence.
Leonard Ojha, Managing General Partner of the Alexander Group, says blasting will continue for another week or so. After that, he says residents in the area shouldn’t expect construction to be very loud or too intrusive.
He expects the 95-unit retirement home to have a “formal opening” in the spring of 2024, but, if all goes to plan, residents will be able to start moving into apartments by December 2023.
The build got a $23.3 million boost from the federal government in May 2021.
The District of Muskoka also pitched in $960,000, allowing 12 of the buildings’ units to be priced at an affordable rate. Ojha says the price of the units hasn’t been decided yet. He adds that will happen closer to when construction wraps up.
“As soon as pricing is finalized, we do have a waitlist that has been growing quite nicely,” Ojha says.
“One of our goals as a council, and me in particular, has been around providing more housing in Gravenhurst,” Gravenhurst Mayor Paul Kelly says.
He points out how many seniors residences can cost over $3,000 a month, but expects the price point for these units to be lower than that.
Earlier this month, Kelly announced he won’t be running for a second term as Gravenhurst’s head of council. He says he’s proud of the work the current term of council has put in on this and other housing projects. Kelly says this particular one dates back about six years with a lot of leg work done by Gravenhurst’s previous term of council, led by Mayor Paisley Donaldson. “It’s gone over several transformations over that time,” Kelly adds.
“We’re certainly going to see the need for more senior accommodation as the years go on,” Kelly adds.
While there are multiple projects being worked on now not just in Gravenhurst, but throughout Muskoka, he adds “we still have a long way to go” in providing more affordable housing in Muskoka. “That, in the next term of council, has got to be a focus,” he says.