Building Better Futures: 41 Westhill Drive, Waterloo
This project supports the Region of Waterloo's strategic focus area(s)
Building Better Futures: 2,500 homes in 5 years
Welcome to 41 Westhill Drive, Waterloo
In 2021, the Region of Waterloo established the Building Better Futures Initiative, which sets a clear target for the Region to work alongside provincial, federal, non-profit and private sector partners toward the creation of new 2,500 affordable homes across the Region.
This strategy includes identifying vacant Regional lands for the purpose of developing affordable housing. To support this initiative, the Region of Waterloo will be seeking proposals for the acquisition of 41 Westhill Drive in Waterloo to develop mixed-income housing units.
What: The Region will be seeking proposals for a mixed-income housing development to support the creation of affordable homes at 41 Westhill Drive, Waterloo.
UPDATE: Regional Staff will provide confirmation of a revised RFP release date in the new year.
When: An RFP (request for proposal) will be issued to seek proposals from companies and/or non-profits interested in developing the property. A timeline on development is to be determined.
Questions? Feedback?
The Region of Waterloo recently held public information sessions for the community to ask questions about the property, the development process and how this work will support housing affordability in our community.
Did you miss the public information sessions? Not to worry, a link to the presentation slide show is available on this page. Also, further public consultation regarding this project will be held once the successful developer has been selected.
If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to Ashley Graham, Senior Planner Land Portfolio at ashgraham@regionofwaterloo.ca.
Input gathered from the community will be included in the development RFPs to help inform submissions for development.
Past Information Sessions
Virtual Information Session: Wednesday, September 28, 2022, 7:00PM - 8:00PM
In-person Information Session (drop-in): Tuesday, October 4, 6:00PM - 8:30PM at the Kitchener-Waterloo Bilingual School, 600 Erb Street West, Waterloo, Ontario
About the Site
This 0.7 Acre (0.28 Hectare) property is bordered by Ira Needles Boulevard (west frontage), and Westhill Drive (east frontage) in the City of Waterloo, approximately 250 metres south of Erb Street West (Highway 9).
Our fact sheet contains up to date information about the property.
About The RFP Process
A public Request for Proposal (RFP) for the development of affordable housing units will be open to private and non-profit developers. A selection committee comprised of Regional staff from Planning, Development, and Legislative Services, Housing, Facilities, and Procurement will evaluate the submissions based on an established evaluation framework, which will include weighted measures, focused on but not limited to:
- Regional Guidelines: Submission of specific deliverables that address things like built form, context-sensitivity, open space, amenity provisions, and leading-edge innovation in social and environmental sustainability;
- Number of Affordable Units: Percentage of affordable housing units above a minimum of 30% and depth of affordability (affordable is defined as rent at or below 80% of Median Market Rent);
- Duration of Affordability: Target a minimum 40-year duration of affordability;
- Fit: Integration into the community (e.g. through design excellence and use of high-quality materials);
- Accessibility: Accessibility features above minimum building code requirements, achieve VisAbility or universal design standards;
- Sustainability: Promote net-zero operational carbon targets;
- Community Benefit: Consider a community space and/or community service where specified through the RFP;
- Commit to providing a smoke-free building;
- Consider community benefit agreement through a commitment to providing training of skilled labour to apprentices and/or un/underemployed individuals, and/or to incorporate youth employment opportunities during construction; and,
- Other Criteria as established.
Background
- On May 11, 2021, the Affordable Housing Framework outlined the development of an innovative strategy to accelerate the development of affordable homes across Waterloo Region over the next five years (Report CSD-HOU-21-05/PDL-ECD-21-05). The strategy, Building Better Futures, encompasses strategic funding of investments by the Region and leveraging of federal and provincial grant programs to supplement these efforts in the creation of up to 2,500 new affordable homes along with our partners. The strategy also includes the use of lands surplus to the needs of the Region for the purposes of developing affordable housing, furthering efforts to achieve affordability for all.
- The RFP and disposition process presents an opportunity to target specific housing needs in Waterloo Region, and to incorporate learning from the Beechwood affordable housing project initiated in 2020. The Region is developing community profiles for each site to ensure projects are responsive to neighbourhood needs.
More information and past reports
Past Reports:
