Affordable Housing Coming to Barrhaven Later This Year

By Charlie Senack, Barrhaven Independent

Barrhaven is expected to get more affordable housing by the end of this year after Ottawa Community Housing purchased a piece of land for only $2.00. 

A total of 32 family-sized units will be built at 3380 Jockvale Rd, near the corner of Greenbank. Ottawa Community Housing has been leasing the land for the past year at no cost as development plans were in the works. 

On Feb. 1, the city’s finance and economic development committee approved the transfer of land for only two dollars. 

The first phase will feature two and three bedroom apartments, and will go to families who are experiencing homelessness or families who are at risk of living on the streets. 

The goal is to build townhouses with seven accessible apartments on the ground floor, says Ottawa Community Housing. 

Plans are already in the works for phase two of the project, which would add another 26 units to the site. 

The land will be considered surplus by the City of Ottawa, but has a market value of $1.6 million, according to a 2020 analysis.

While Barrhaven does have a few affordable housing projects, this will be a first for Ottawa Community Housing, the city’s largest social housing provider. The organization has one building in Kanata and another in North Gower, but that’s it for this side of the Greenbelt. 

Ottawa Community Housing has a total of 15,000 affordable housing units across the city.