Summerside's affordable housing complex for seniors expected to be ready by 2020

The P.E.I. government has tendered the construction of a 32-unit affordable housing complex in Summerside.

The cost will be shared by the provincial and federal governments. The exact dollar wasn't specified, but the province called it a "multi-million dollar investment."

Details were announced at a news conference in Summerside on Thursday hosted by Egmont MP Robert Morrissey and P.E.I. Minister of Family and Human Services Tina Mundy.

The building will be located on Frank Mellish Street and will be owned and operated by the government of P.E.I.

"We will be collaborating many more times with developers and landlords but this one will be one that we will be taking on our own," Mundy said.

"We will continue to be Prince Edward Island's largest landlord."

Five of the units will be accessible.

The construction tender closes on Feb. 28, and the building is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2020.

The project was announced last September, with an original goal of having units ready for spring 2019.

National housing strategy

The federal government is contributing to the cost through its national housing strategy, a 10-year, $40-billion plan it said will create 100,000 new housing units across the country.

The provincial government said 1,200 new affordable units are being created across P.E.I. over the next two years to support the existing inventory of 1,600 provincial government-owned affordable units.

Mundy said once the tender is awarded, government will have a clearer picture of how much the complex will cost and when construction is expected to begin.

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