A large rental housing project in McGregor is a step closer to reality.
Essex Council has approved a Site Plan Control Agreement with McGregor Development Corporation for the creation of a 116-unit apartment building.
The proposed four-storey project would include one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental units, along with 153 parking spaces, including six accessible parking spaces, two loading spaces and six bicycle spaces.
It would be located at 0 Parnell Street, near Walker Road, just behind the McGregor Community Centre in Ward 2.
Ward 2 Councillor Kimberly Verbeek says this is exciting for McGregor because housing is needed.
"It's a realy tight knit community, it's a lot of rural community with farms and farmers, and an aging community," she says. "This is finally giving an option to sell your great big home and move into a smaller space."
Verbeek says this is about providing a mix in available housing.
"If you get to know the people in McGregor in the Ward 2 area, they are generations," she says. "They don't want to leave but because of the lack of housing or rental units available, many of them have to leave the area."
A building permit still needs to be approved and issued for the project, which is just Phase 1 of the overall development.
The developer also plans to seek approval in the future for the construction of 26 townhouse units as part of Phase 2.