Reimagine Southdale: The beginning of much needed updates to community housing stock
A new project by London and Middlesex Community Housing will help out a dent in London’s housing crisis, and update aging community housing stock.
A ground breaking ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday at 1057 Southdale Rd. E. for the Reimagine Southdale project
It’s a six storey, 53 unit building that will replace 18 townhouses that have been torn down, said London and Middlesex Community Housing CEO Paul Chisholm.
“Like a mid-rise apartment,” he explained. “We’re leaving most of the townhouses here, and were putting the six storey building with two, three, and four bedroom units on this site you see here, just to intensify the site, make use of existing infrastructure.”
The townhouses at the site were built in the early 1970s using the standards of the day, and not much has changed about them. The new six storey building will meet all of today’s accessibility requirements, said Chisholm.
“Eleven of the units will be fully accessible, but all of them will have improved accessibility. It’s the first time we’re building family units that will be accessible to folks. Typically our family units are townhouses. Now in a multi-residential apartment there’s going to be more accessible if there’s a parent with a disability or a child with a disability,” he said.
The London Middlesex Community Housing construction project at 1057 Southdale Rd. E. is seen in London, Ont. on March 5, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London) According to tenants, the updated units are long overdue.
Josie Antone said she has lived in her unit at the complex for seven years. She considers herself one of the lucky ones because hers is the only place around her that she knows of that’s been updated in the last 30 years.
“Before I moved here there was a fire at my house and my whole townhouse had to be renovated. They updated like everything, the bathrooms, the kitchen,” she said.
Avery Wood, 21, has lived in the complex all his life. He’s encouraged by the new project, but at the same time is a little apprehensive.
“I think it could he good for the community, but it could also go bad, depending…depending on who they let in, like without checking. You know, background checks and stuff,” he said.
The project is phase one of three new buildings. It’s expected to be move-in ready in the summer of 2025.
Antone welcomes the new neighbours.
“I’m happy, like there are so many homeless right now that are on the street. It’s good that they can expand,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6925574.1721646302!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Canadian killed near Gaza border after threatening forces with knife: Israeli police
Israeli police say a Canadian citizen was killed Monday after threatening Israeli security forces with a knife near the Gaza border.
Harris looks to lock up Democratic nomination after Biden steps aside, reordering 2024 race
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to lock up Democratic delegates behind her campaign for the White House after President Joe Biden stepped aside amid concerns from within their own party that he would be unable to defeat Donald Trump.
What to know about the Canadian ties of Kamala Harris, Biden's choice for successor
U.S. President Joe Biden is stepping aside as the Democratic candidate in that country's November election and throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris -- a Montreal-area high school graduate who spent several years in the city.
Markets bet on second Bank of Canada interest rate cut coming this week
Economists and market watchers are betting the Bank of Canada will deliver another interest rate cut this week amid mounting evidence that inflation is sustainably easing.
The pilot who died in crash after releasing skydivers near Niagara Falls has been identified
NEW YORK (AP) — Officials on Sunday released the name of a pilot who died in a skydiving flight after her passengers jumped from the aircraft near the Niagara Falls.
Canadian musicians struggle to get visas to perform in the U.S., some cancel shows
Backlogs and processing delays of temporary U.S. visas required by entertainers, athletes and artists has forced some Canadian bands to cancel U.S. tour dates because paperwork wasn't processed in time.
Mom wants quicker reform on disaster preparations, one year after flood took son
The mother of a boy who died a year ago in a Nova Scotia flood says her grief returns daily, along with frustration over what she considers the province's slow pace in reforming its preparations for climate disasters.
Ottawa man waiting nearly a year for car to be fixed at Acura dealership
An Ottawa man says he’s been waiting nearly a year for his car to be repaired after it was damaged during a storm in August.
Justin Trudeau reacts to Joe Biden announcing he won't run for re-election
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the news that U.S. President Joe Biden won’t run for re-election Sunday, calling Biden a 'true friend.'