Windsor on track to meet housing goals for 2024, mayor says

Windsor's mayor says the city is on track to meet its annual target for new housing builds, unlocking provincial funding that the city missed out on last year.

Drew Dilkens said on Friday morning that the city has reached about 85 per cent of its goal for the year, already making it eligible for provincial funding. If the city meets its goal fully, it could receive about $3 million, Dilkens said.

"We're laser-focused on making sure we hit the goal to get the full allotment this year," he said.

Windsor's housing target for 2024 is 1,083 units. As of June, 924 housing starts have been recorded, according to the provincial government's housing tracker website.

Those numbers don't yet include a 136-unit rental apartment building that is going up in Forest Glade. The developer, Rob Piroli of Piroli Group, spoke at the press conference Friday, praising the work of the city in granting approvals to get the project off the ground quickly.

"This is possible only because of what the city of Windsor, the mayor, council, all committees have done for us," he said.

The homes are expected to be move-in ready in the fall of next year, and rents will range from about $1,800 per month to $2,600 per month, utilities included.

Windsor has committed to seeing 13,000 new homes built in the city over a decade. 

As part of its strategy to build more housing, the Ontario government established the $400-million Building Faster Fund, which provides money to municipalities for "housing-enabling infrastructure" and other costs related to expanding housing.

Windsor failed to meet its 2023 target of 953 housing starts, which would have brought in $3.4 million to the city. But the city issued a record number of building permits, and would have met the goal if that metric were used rather than starts.

The city says that as of last month, it has issued permits and given approvals for 2,582 new residential units this year.

Coun. Jim Morrison, the chair of the city's development and heritage committee, said the pace of rezoning and approval processes has been accelerated.

"We are moving as fast and we can at city hall and I want to commend the planning and building departments as well," he said.

According to the city, the average application for planning approvals takes less than six months.

Morrison said he's happy to see a mix of developments on the horizon to address housing needs, saying the city needs apartments.

"We won't get there if we just want to build single-family houses. Younger people can't afford single family houses right now. Elderly people are looking for apartment-style living where they don't have to do the maintenance,"