Approximately two decades ago the City of Brandon partnered with Habitat for Humanity Manitoba on selling residential property on both Franklin Street and Percy Street for minimal cost. Now 20 years later, the last few homes are being completed and it's time to move on to another area of Brandon for the next development of Habitat homes.
Executive Director for Habitat Manitoba, Jamie Hall, says they're in discussion with the City of Brandon once again to purchase land on 6th Street North, just north of Stickney Avenue.
The new neighborhood has been named Assiniboine Gardens.
"I've said to Brandon City Council last year that Brandon has been the most generous municipality for Habitat for Humanity in terms of providing property. And this year we're just finishing off the property on Franklin Street," explains Hall. "Two decades ago, the City of Brandon gave all of those lots for a dollar. I think there are more than 30 lots there, and we've been building on those two streets, Franklin and Percy. And we're just finishings them off."
A handful of years ago Habitat Manitoba and the City of Brandon began talks of what building projects could come next. The property just north of Stickney Avenue came up and so the wheels are in motion for an offer to purchase as well as taking steps to rezone in order to build.
"It's all looking very promising," adds Hall. "It's good when you have a partner like the City of Brandon to work with, to help find us the next place where we'll be building Habitat homes. I'd say we're adding to the community that is already there near Stickney Avenue."
Upon completion a total of 39 single family detached homes will be constructed in Assiniboine Gardens with the majority of homes built on 6th Street N. As this is closer to the Assiniboine River, the homes will not have basements but will rather be constructed as two-story homes.
Jamie Hall says the factor that's going to determine the pace of the build, whether one at a time or multiple homes at one time, will come down to funds that are available.
"We've typically had the capacity to build two homes per year here in Brandon," he says. "We've been able to step that up to four homes per year in recent years, mainly because of the generosity of both the Province of Manitoba and the Federal Government. However, those funds are now being directed elsewhere in terms of housing in Canada and the province," adds Hall.
"And I would say as well that the funds from the mortgage payments of our families who are in Habitat homes across Manitoba paying their mortgages every month, and those funds, because we've paid for the houses already, are going into our next build year."
Currently, they have 270 families participating in the Habitat home ownership program, but Hall is quick to note that all funds raised through the build projects remain in that project's community.
"So, all the homes we built in Brandon, the mortgage payments of those families in Brandon go towards our build project in Brandon. And so, the more homes we build in Brandon the more cash flow we receive from the mortgage payments. We're slowly ramping that up as we build more houses," he adds.
The second largest source of funding for Habitat is through fundraising efforts. As funding is not available from the two levels of government, Hall says they'll be having more fundraisers this year.
"Brandon is a very generous place, not just as a city but also the residents in Brandon and surrounding area and so we'll probably have more focus on fundraising in order to speed up the pace with which we can build."
The development planning for Assiniboine Gardens is expected to be complete by then end of this year with hopes to break ground in early spring of 2026.
"We want to make sure that we're doing everything right," adds Jamie Hall, "that we're good neighbors and as we construct, the families that we bring to that neighborhood are set up to be good neighbors as well."