Hundreds Line-up for Chance to Own the Porter Suite at the Harbour Club

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Thanks to a bold move by a St Catharines city councillor, a room in the luxurious Harbour Club Residences in Port Dalhousie will be set aside as an affordable suite. At the September 27 city council meeting, eight members of council decided to gift the developer of the Harbour Club condo development $3.5 million from the Community Improvement Program (CIP), largely intended to encourage affordable housing. During the meeting, several speakers noted that that with none of the 122 units selling for under $900,000, the development seemed to defy even the broadest definition of “affordable,” but to no avail.

However, one councillor never lost sight of the program’s purpose, and during the discussion asked the developer, Sheldon Rosen, if he couldn’t pretty please set aside at least one unit for home seekers earning less than those on the Sunshine List.

Rosen agreed, and that resulted in hundreds of low-income housing seekers lining up for a lottery draw for the unit at this desirable waterside setting.

“We are delighted to make a unit available at a price much lower than the usual million bucks a residence,” Rosen said. “We’ve already identified the unit and it’s a big and open concept.”

To be known as the Porter Suite, the unit in question is actually the room where the standby generator will be housed. The developer has promised to upgrade it with a sink, toilet, stove and shower. “While there is no view of the harbour, or anything else,” the developers said, “Thee promenade will be only steps away, and they are free to use the bike rack.”

The Harbour Club Residences development is currently 90% sold and the property has doubled in value before construction has even begun.

“I want to sincerely thank the people of St Catharines for this generous gift,” Rosen commented, referring to the $3.5 million grant. “This will finally allow us to buy a corporate jet. The least we could do was put a family in the basement.”