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City approves chopped-down high-rise on MacDonald Ave. (9 photos)

Monthly rents are expected to range between $1,400 and $1,900, including utilities

City Council tonight approved a rezoning application allowing Joe and Dave Ruscio and John Martella to build an eight-story, 65-unit apartment tower at 22 MacDonald Ave.

Councillors also voted to remove a requirement that at least 30 per cent of the apartments be priced as 'affordable' housing.

Last year, council had approved the developer's original proposal for a skyline-altering 12-storey, 90-unit building.

But Martella and the Ruscios withdrew that proposal after two citizens launched appeals, partly because the city's official plan called for an affordable housing component in all developments with more than 50 dwelling units.

The revised design approved tonight was developed to sidestep the requirement that 30 per cent of the apartments be offered at affordable rent levels.

The building site is at the northwest corner of MacDonald and Gladstone, on the old Collegiate Heights playing field, which in recent years was used as a municipal snow dump.

All councillors except Ward 2's Lisa Vezeau-Allen voted for the chopped-down high-rise.

Vezeau-Allen said she opposed the project because she wanted some part of it, if not 30 per cent, to offer affordable rents.

The developers argued that the apartments must be built on pilings estimated to cost $1 million and the project couldn't proceed with affordable housing.

Mayor Provenzano said the 30 per cent affordable housing requirement hasn't helped solve the Sault's housing issues and it's not expected to survive when the Official Plan is updated, so he supported tonight's application.

Monthly rents in the new building are expected to range between $1,400 and $1,900, including utilities.

That compares to current median rents in the Sault ranging from $600 for a bachelor apartment to $895 for three bedrooms.

In other news, City Council tonight agreed to look for ways to discourage or eliminate use of plastic bags within the community.


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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