Google Street View
Smiths Falls council is poised to accept a donated property at 25 Montague Street.
The land sits next to a town-owned vacant parcel on 14-30 Robinson Avenue that has been identified for a potential not-for-profit housing development with Carebridge Community Support.
That makes this offer a can’t-miss to Mayor Shawn Pankow.
The town entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in September, 2022 with Carebridge for the Robinson Avenue land, with the intent of building not-for-profit housing.
According to the staff report, nothing has been done at the location yet, “for a host of reasons, chief among them is the absence of funding supports. Carebridge has partnered with a builder and continues to actively explore sources of funding.”
Carebridge has a strong reputation across Lanark County for providing housing and other supports to low-income residents, and already have a footprint in Smiths Falls with their 44 Chambers Street property.
CAO Malcom Morris says combining both the Robinson Avenue and Montague Street properties makes a lot of sense.
Morris said this site could become parking, a greenspace, or anything else deemed necessary in a potential development.
The house on the property is uninhabitable and would need to be demolished. Estimated costs are about $38,000, $5,000 more than the property’s appraised value.