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Affordable housing roundup

The territory's got more than $56 million to burn on affordable housing before the March 2011 deadline. In Whitehorse, the new building going up near Earl's Restaurant has 30 seniors units, which should be ready by spring.

The territory’s got more than $56 million to burn on affordable housing before the March 2011 deadline.

In Whitehorse, the new building going up near Earl’s Restaurant has 30 seniors units, which should be ready by spring.

There’s 32 single-parent units opening in Riverdale this fall. And in Ingram subdivision, behind Arkell, there’s a sixplex with three- and four-bedroom units.

There are also three new duplexes set to be built in Takhini North, creating six more housing options.

And the Yukon’s first Abbeyfield is in the design phase. Abbeyfield is a nonprofit organization that originated in the UK, and allows seniors to live in independent units that share common kitchen and living areas. “But it’s not assisted living,” said Yukon Housing spokesperson JoAnne Harach. The Yukon’s Abbeyfield will have up to 12 units, she said.

Watson Lake will also see 12 new seniors’ housing units available this fall. Teslin is getting eight new seniors’ units, also set to be ready in the fall. And Faro has six new seniors’ units which were opened at the end of August.

There is also affordable housing, with rent geared to income, underway in Dawson City. There will be 19 units for smaller families, said Harach.

The federal stimulus money will also be used to do renovations and upgrades of Yukon Housing’s existing housing stock, she said.

Yukon Housing has between 30 and 40 old double-wide trailers and has plans to replace 12 to 16 of them with new single-family homes.

And there are renos being done in almost every community, from ventilation improvements and exterior and interior retrofits to furnace upgrades and roofing repairs, said Harach, citing Haines Junction, Carmacks, Carcross, Teslin, Watson Lake, Ross River, Mayo and Dawson.

The new children’s receiving home on Hanson Street was also built using the stimulus money.

Yukon Housing started using the funding in 2009.

“And all the money has to be committed by March 2011,” she said. (Genesee Keevil)