GUYSBOROUGH — It’s full speed ahead for the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia (HTNS), as the work to get eight townhouse-style homes at Cutler’s Brook Estates in Guysborough up and ready to rent is now running ahead of schedule, says the non-profit organization’s executive director.
“It’s moving along at a quick pace,” Angela Bishop told The Journal in an interview last week about the modular homes project – aimed at much-needed healthcare professionals – slated to open early next year. “[It’s possible] we’ll be ready even before [we anticipated].”
According to HTNS Project Manager Megan Mariano, “We’re doing site work right now. The foundations are anticipated to be completed this month. We are anticipating the first block of four modules to be delivered by the end of August, and the second block of four to be delivered by the end of September.”
She said that, “Because it’s difficult to get people engaged when the holidays come around, most likely it will be the beginning of next year” before the properties officially go up for rent. Still, she said, “We’ll [probably] start leasing [advance booking tenants] in a couple of months.”
That’s important, Bishop said. “We really want to start the pipeline and find out who’s looking [for accommodations] and how we can find them quickly. As it gets closer, we are going to have to talk more with people at the [Guysborough Memorial] hospital and at the [Milford Haven Home for Special Care]. If local healthcare providers say they really need nurses [for example], we have to – and want to – work with that to hit the need.”
Armed with a province-wide mandate and $20 million from the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the HTNS has administered the government’s Housing for Healthcare Initiative – designed to provide modern, affordable homes for doctors, nurses, admin personnel, kitchen or cleaning staff, licensed practical nurses, and continuing care assistants in communities where worker recruitment and retention is challenging – since early 2023.
Last October, the Municipality of the Distict of Guysborough (MODG) transferred two parcels of land at Cutler’s Brook Estates – a subdivision close to Chedabucto Education Centre/Guysborough Academy, hospital, nursing home, recreation facilities, and shopping that features a public green space and wastewater system – and a property on Wilmot Street in Canso for $1 apiece (with an approximate, combined market value of approximately $100,000) to the HTNS projects.
The modular homes designed by Supreme Homes of New Brunswick – eight for Guysborough and eight more slated to go online in Canso sometime in 2025 – should “fit well” into the communities, Bishop said at the time. “We’re very much focused on creating long-term, permanent housing that people would be happy to make their home.”
Last week, Mariano said the HTNS has revised its Guysborough building permit slightly to anticipate market demand. “Now, we’re actually building six two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units [as opposed to] eight two-bedroom units... And, that’s just so we have a variety of housing options depending on the individual. If, for example, it’s a single person, we didn’t want to over-house them.”
She added that the HTNS’s good working relationship with Supreme Homes has kept the project clipping along.
“They have number of retailers within Nova Scotia, and those retailers also have contractors who can help them build single family homes. Through that avenue, we’ve found a contractor that can do kind of the remaining site work that’s required.”
