Two developers involved in the affordable housing project which would have seen 75 units built in Whitehorse are criticizing the Yukon government’s decision to cancel the plan.

Antonio Zedda and Patrick McLarnon are two of the three developers in Whitehorse who made it through the government’s request for proposals (RFP) process.

Both have said they were shocked and disappointed when they heard in June that the project was cancelled.

“I own other rentals, and I know it’s impossible to get our rent prices down to an affordable rate without any kind of subsidy from the government so, because of that, I saw this as a great opportunity for Yukoners,” McLarnon said in an interview last Friday.

He said he feels Yukoners have been “robbed” by the government’s decision.

“I felt there was so much good in this project,” McLarnon said.

“I was proud to be a part of this, and to have it just taken away from the Yukoners, I really feel it’s a horrible injustice.”

Zedda, of Kobayashi + Zedda Architects, said he kept hearing from his staff about the difficulty of finding affordable housing.

“It started off with a practical concern about our own staff, but it became part of a larger idea of providing affordable housing downtown to meet a demand that I think a lot of business owners are facing,” he said.

McLarnon said he spent hundreds of hours working on his proposal, including getting quotes from contractors and working with his design team.

“It was a large investment,” he said. “For the local businesses out there to put in all this time and effort to go through these projects and find out they’re a waste of time.... That’s exactly what it is, a waste of time, effort, money and resources.”

Zedda echoed McLarnon on this. He estimates his team spent more than $20,000 worth of time and resources on developing its plans.

McLarnon planned to build 24 one-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units in Copper Ridge, for rent for $800 and $1,000 respectively.

He and the other developers each had a meeting with the Yukon Housing Corp., at which he and staff discussed terms of the project, including an income cap and proposed duration of the affordability.

McLarnon said the housing corporation suggested a $68,000 annual income cap on would-be tenants. He agreed to that.

Housing corporation employees felt the 10-year condition – rental rates must remain affordable for at least that long – was long enough, he said.

(The corporation defines “affordable” as rental rates remaining at or below 95 per cent of median rates. According to April 2014 data from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, that was $900 in buildings with three or more rental units.)

Both developers hope the government reconsiders what Zedda calls “a bad decision,” and question what the remaining trust funds – about $11.5 million – will be used for.

“I’ve met with my partners, and we’re still interested in pursuing this project because we think it’s something the community needs,” Zedda said. “We just need to figure out if there’s another way to do this.”

He’s trying to set up meetings with the Yukon government and the housing corporation.

“Part of why we want to meet with them, now that the dust has settled a little bit, is to find out what exactly led to the cancellation, because we’ve heard a lot of different reasons for that,” Zedda said.

“It’d be nice to actually have a discussion with the various parties to see if those issues are surmountable and we can find a way to move ahead.”

McLarnon encouraged Whitehorse residents upset about the project’s cancellation to call and write to their MLA and MP.

Today, cabinet spokeswoman Elaine Schiman referred to comments Brad Cathers, the minister responsible for the housing corporation, has already made on the subject and said he has nothing to add.

The government has not spoken about its decision since June.

At that time, Cathers noted the Yukon Real Estate Association and the Yukon Residential Landlords Association had expressed concerns about the impact subsidized development would have on private development.

The government has not revealed what it plans to do with the remaining monies.

It did announce in June that nearly $1.5 million will go to the development of eight affordable units in Carmacks and Carcross.

Through the affordable housing initiative, the government would have paid 50 per cent of the cost to develop the affordable rental units.

The federal government developed the $300-million Northern Housing Trust in 2006 to address the need for affordable housing in the territories.

The Yukon government received $50 million. It negotiated with the First Nations governments that $32.5 million would go to First Nations to address priority housing needs.

The Yukon government kept $17.5 million to spend on affordable housing issues.

Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, Candice Bergen, the federal Minister of State for Social Development, will be in Whitehorse to sign a new Investment in Affordable Housing agreement with the Yukon, the details of which are not yet known.

See Uffish Thoughts.