SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Affordable housing is on the horizon for Phase VII of the Niven Lake subdivision.

City council accepted a proposal from Highstreet Ventures - the developer working on multi-family dwellings at the foot of Tin Can Hill - for the development of three eight-plex units, 11 three-plex units and a 64-unit apartment building in Phase VII, Monday night.

All of the proposed 121 units will be up for sale, with a dozen 650 square foot one-bedroom condominiums priced under $200,000 and 50 of the homes priced between $200,000 and $300,000, according to the developer's proposal.

"With council struggling with the affordability goals that we've identified, it's indeed a milestone to have a developer come forward and offer to provide and build housing units that are going to come in, at least at an initial estimate, at about $200,000," said city councillor David Wind.

When seeking proposals for the lots in Phase VII, council stressed the importance of the development being affordable and even had administration rewrite the request for proposals twice to reflect their goal.

The first draft was sent back when council found the affordability section had nothing more than an unfinished sentence. It was sent back a second time, so administration could add 15 per cent for affordability in the proposal's evaluation criteria, a request made by Coun. Shelagh Montgomery and supported by Couns. Bob Brooks, David Wind, Mark Heyck and Amanda Mallon.

The final document gave significant emphasis to development proposals that incorporate innovative approaches to dedicating a percentage of units as affordable dwellings.

"I'm very happy with the developers," said Brooks. "The way they approach development in the city, and particularly this proposal, gave us a lot of options to look at, especially for more affordable housing in the city."

The next step will be a purchase and sale agreement for the land. If all goes well, the developer will begin construction this summer.

The preliminary construction schedule, as indicated by the proposal, will have all three of the eight-plex units and six of the three-plex units built by the spring of 2012.

The five remaining three-plexes and the 64-unit apartment building, which consists of 47 two-bedroom units and 17 one-bedroom units, will be complete by spring of 2013.

The eight-plex units will be around 1,000 square feet, with two bedrooms, while the three-plex units will be around 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms.

During their initial discussions about the proposal last week, councillors expressed their confidence in Highstreet Ventures based on both the speed of construction and the price tags on the Copper Sky condominiums being built near Tin Can Hill, at the end of School Draw Avenue.

The units range between $199,900 for a 624-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo and $219,900 for a two-bedroom, one-bathroom condo. The two-bedroom homes are between 850 and 920 square feet.

When the 33 units in Phase I of the development went on sale last June, they sold in two days.

Phase II, which consists of 48 units, goes on sale Feb. 3.

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