three people standing in the courtyard of St. Peter's

The Record, APRIL 09, 2021 

TERRY PENDER

 

KITCHENER — Amid shiny new condo towers in the city core, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Queen Street North is moving ahead with plans to provide affordable apartments.

 

The congregation recently voted to partner with a Hamilton-based developer to build 40 one-bedroom units with a maximum rent of $550 on the second and third floors of the church building at 49 Queen St. N.

 

Indwell is a Christian-based charity that’s built 700-plus units of affordable and supportive apartments in Hamilton and London for some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in those cities.

The charity’s partnership with St. Peter’s is the second during the past year in Kitchener. In March 2020, it purchased St. Mark’s Lutheran Church at 825 King St. W. for an affordable housing project.

 

News of the partnership with St. Peter’s comes as a record-breaking building boom continues in downtown Kitchener that is adding hundreds of new condo units, but so far only 11 affordable units.

 

There are more than 6,000 families on the region’s waiting list for subsidized housing, and during the pandemic the region has placed 70 homeless people in suburban motels — first in Kitchener, then Waterloo and now Guelph.

 

St. Peter’s Pastor Mark Ehlebracht said the congregation wants to help the poor and homeless people of Kitchener in a real way. They spent the past three years looking for the right development partner. “This decision was about making a tangible difference,” said Ehlebracht.

When a homeless family sheltered in the airduct behind the church, the pastor and his congregation were moved to act. The homeless people painted this on the wall: “Mr + Mrs Nobody + offspring, Unit #1, Anyplace St. Somewhere, The World.”

“It is so close to being behind the altar,” said Ehlebracht. “On one side of the altar here we are worshipping in our finery, and singing our praises, and someone quite literally on the other side of that altar was living in an airduct. That’s what breaks my heart.”

 

St. Peter’s Church was established on Queen Street North 158 years ago, and the congregation voted 99 per cent in favour of partnering with Indwell to build affordable apartments in the building, said Susan Dietrich, the chair of the church’s board.

“The congregation is excited, and we can’t wait to see what happens,” said Dietrich.

 

The main sanctuary, chapel and courtyard will remain. The apartments will be added on the upper two floors. St. Peter’s and Indwell will need to raise funds and secure grants from government housing programs. Based on previous experience, Indwell believes the St. Peter’s project could be finished within three years, said Graham Cubitt, the charity’s director of projects and development.

 

“The concept that we have worked on is using the building that St. Peter’s has there,” said Cubitt. “Adaptive reuse, they have a very beautiful building, a solid building, one that bodes well for conversion.”

 

The current church building was constructed in 1968.

 

“Almost 6,000 people are on the list for affordable housing in the region,” said Regional Coun. Jim Erb in a statement. “Government can’t provide for this need on our own. We need to create significant partnerships with the private sector and non-profit organizations like Indwell and St. Peter’s Church to solve this problem.”