With a big injection of provincial funds, the Town of Tecumseh is poised to open up undeveloped lands that could accommodate more than 4,000 new homes.
“There’s a 41-per-cent (increase in the number) of households that’s coming,” Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara said at Tuesday’s funding announcement. “This will be a tremendous boost for our community and the region.
“This is a huge relief for us. This project is in the neighbourhood of $22 million, and for a community of Tecumseh’s size, that’s a huge amount to ask for in a small community.”
Tecumseh is getting a $15.1 million grant from the Ontario Housing Enabling Systems Fund that will help support the installation of water and sewage trunk lines to allow the municipality to unlock land on its western edge for construction of up to 4,059 new homes.
The $22 million project will service the Tecumseh Hamlet Plan, which is bounded by Banwell Road, County Road 22, County Road 42 and the City of Windsor.
The project will see a 1.8-km drinking water trunk line and a 1.7-km sanitary sewer main installed. McNamara said the town will be putting out requests for quotes on the work in two or three weeks.
The town has been consulting with the public and developers on the Tecumseh Hamlet Plan since 2012. The new provincial assistance comes at a time when all levels of government are trying to address a housing crisis.
“We’ve seen the amount of immigration and migration that’s coming into the community, we have to house them somewhere,” McNamara said.
“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of pressure to the community and I’m really pleased that the provincial government recognized that in order for us to be able to achieve housing needs in the community this investment here will really help us.”
Local MPP Andrew Dowie (PC — Windsor-Tecumseh) said Tecumseh’s application stood out as it fit exactly what the provincial government is seeking in trying to reach its goal of building 1.5 million new homes across Ontario by 2031.
“We have lands that are available, a secondary plan and there’s been consultation,” said Dowie, a former Town of Tecumseh councillor. “All that’s needed is infrastructure.
“This way we know the provincial goals of building homes are achieved by working with the Town of Tecumseh to install this infrastructure to open up the lands for development exactly where the demand exists for residential development.”
Also in attendance at Tuesday’s announcement outside Tecumseh town hall were several local developers, excited at the prospect of substantial lands opening up in a prime area near the giant NextStar battery plant under construction.
Infrastructure restrictions have limited Tecumseh’s residential growth in recent years and that development went elsewhere, including further east into Lakeshore.
“It’s all positive stuff,” said developer Ernie Mailloux, who owns 20 acres in the hamlet that is composed of all private land.
“I’m glad to see they’re going to get the ground services in the land. It’s time to get new land serviced in Tecumseh.
“The battery plant has definitely brought life to that area.”
McNamara said many local developers have already been working with the town’s engineering and planning departments on the new greenfield development in preparation for the infrastructure installation. He expects it’ll take a year for the new services to be installed.
“We’ve laid out the plan, invited the community to participate, and the result is now we have the requirement in dollars to get the infrastructure in the ground for them (developers) to lay it out,” McNamara said.
“The development community is excited about that.”
McNamara said the new subdivision has been meticulously planned and will feature a mixture of housing types, commercial nodes and parks to create the type of community residents have told the town they desire.
The mayor added the development will provide more than just more housing for Tecumseh.
“This creates a whole new economic opportunity for our community,” McNamara said. “The $15 million the provincial government is investing in our community is going to drive opportunities well beyond the next few years.
“As the assessment goes up, especially new assessment, it helps buffer property tax increases into the future.
“New growth gives you opportunity. It helps on the tax base.”