887 Kirkwood Ave. Acquired by Ottawa Community Land Trust in October 2023. Photo credit: Benjamin Lopez Steven
If you’re familiar with Ottawa’s understated, post-war enclave of Carlington, you’ve likely seen the low-rise cluster of multi-residential apartment buildings that line Kirkwood Avenue. One of these unassuming yet eminently livable structures has the honour of being Ottawa Community Land Trust’s (OCLT) first property acquisition. And we couldn’t be more thrilled.
A team effort to get the keys
In October of 2023, OCLT secured 887 Kirkwood Avenue, a six-unit building comprised of one- and two-bedroom dwellings and eight parking spaces. This would not have been possible without the support of many community partners, including ward-based funds from City Councillor, Jeff Leiper, a contribution from local realtor, Luigi Aiello, and a generous gift from an anonymous local donor. And with the help of VanCity Community Investment Bank, we acquired a 12-month line of credit allowing us to acquire the property.
Looking ahead, our recently launched Housing Forever Bonds campaign will enable us to pay off the line of credit alongside a small mortgage – and keep the momentum going with the purchase of two more properties!
A bit of history
Ribbon cutting at the opening of the Westhaven Housing Project, a cluster of 25 six-unit apartment buildings that included OCLT’s 887 Kirkwood Avenue, as well as 12 duplexes. Ottawa Citizen, November 18, 1953.
It’s difficult to fathom the construction of 25 six-unit apartment buildings and 12 duplexes being completed in just one year, but that’s exactly how long it took for Campeau Construction to build the Westhaven Housing Project in Carlington in the mid-1950s.
887 Kirkwood Avenue was one of those buildings.
Financed through loans from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (then known as Central Mortgage and Housing) “the Westhaven Project (provided) housing-starved Ottawa with a two-block-long series of apartment and duplex units running south from Carling on Kirkwood Avenue.” (Ottawa Journal, November 18, 1953).
During the ribbon cutting at the corner of Kirkwood Ave and Coldrey Ave, the initiative was lauded by public and private officials alike:
“It’s new projects of this kind that we need. The more of them we can build, the better.”
Robert Winters, Public Works Minister
“I’m pleased with the legislation enacted by the federal government towards solving the housing problems in Canada in general, and Ottawa, in particular.”
Robert Campeau, Campeau Construction
Imagine paying the equivalent of $3.60/day to live in a newly built two-bedroom apartment
Fun fact. In the first few years of its existence, 887 Kirkwood offered one-bedrooms for $85/month and two-bedrooms for $110/month.
When the Westhaven apartments first became available to the public in 1953, you could get a one-bedroom for $85/month and a two-bedroom for $110/month. And if you wanted a garage, you were looking at an extra $10.
One of the factors that attracted OCLT to 887 Kirkwood was the fact that its rental rates were exceptionally affordable. Not $85/month for a one-bedroom type of affordable but a very reasonable 63% of the average market rate (AMR) according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
We wish rates like this were more common, but finding apartments like these is like unearthing a needle in a haystack. And this is why the work of community land trusts is so important. We are here to protect and preserve affordability – to keep housing affordable – forever.
OCLT will continue to honour 887 Kirkwood tenants’ existing rental rates and ensure that future rates established upon turnover of units remain within 80% of the AMR.
What comes after 887 Kirkwood?
While it’s early days in the young life of OCLT, we’ve made great strides in a relatively short time. With 887 Kirkwood acquired and our Housing Forever Bonds campaign off to a healthy start, we know the future is bright.
Together, we are capable of great things. By continuously transitioning privately owned, moderate-rent properties (and their equity) into the community sector, we effectively preserve low- and moderate-rent homes forever. This approach allows us to stabilize rents, protect tenants from displacement, mitigate housing precarity, and retain neighbourhoods for everyone.
While our first focus is residential, we will soon welcome additional uses on our properties, such as community gardens, small retail, daycare or other uses compatible with community life and the financial viability of the property.
Bottom line, we’ve only just begun.