NORTH BAY -- With 737 applications in the Nipissing District currently waiting for affordable housing, officials say the sale of their main street building will help.

“The board very much saw the building on Main Street as an asset that could potentially be sold and the sale proceeds be used towards developing some affording housing in the district,” said Nipissing District Housing Corporation Chair, Dave Mendicino.

“The board does have two key objectives, that being homelessness prevention, and housing stability in the district, and with the sale proceeds we’re hoping to be able to leverage the development of new affordable housing units.”

The building was originally listed for $1.2M dollars, but was reduced to $1.1M and sold shortly after that.

However, the official closing price won’t be made public until it official closes on May 31.

“We know that there’s a waiting list with respect to applicants waiting to get into affordable housing,” said Mendicino.

“We did send out an expression of interest last summer to developers, seeing if there were interested in partnering to develop housing units and there was a lot of interest out there.”

The Nipissing District Housing Corporation also applied to the Federal Government’s Rapid Housing Initiative, but was unfortunately denied during phase one.

“We feel we’re well aligned right now to take advantage of any other funding initiatives that come down the line,” he said.

“Also we plan on engaging the developers to see if there’s a potential now to develop more housing units.”

Mendicino says affordable housing is a problem that is seen province wide and was around before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“The need may of increased a bit, but that need has always been there. That shortage of housing units has always been in the district. It’s something that the board identified prior to the pandemic and it certainly became more prevalent during the pandemic.”

He adds that with the sale of the building, they are now well positioned to help.

“The board is committed to developing more affordable housing units in the district.”

Mendicino is hopeful to see an action plan over the summer so the corporation can get started.