From the Beehive E141: New Rental units incoming at Elm and Wilson

St. Thomas is getting a major boost to its rental housing supply, and we went straight to the source to find out what's coming.
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Mike from St. Thomas Economic Development sat down with Carrie O'Brien, Planner at Drewlo Holdings, at the corner of Elm and Wilson to talk about one of the most significant residential projects in the city's recent history.

On a 20-acre brownfield site that once served as a rail terminal, Drewlo is proposing six purpose-built rental buildings with 1,800 to 2,000 units. Before a single unit could be planned, the team had to address the site's complex history, excavate remnant foundations, crush the material for on-site reuse, and complete all required environmental remediation.

Carrie breaks down why purpose-built rental matters for overall housing affordability, how this kind of development creates movement across the entire housing continuum, and what it means for retirees looking to downsize and first-time families looking to get into the market.

She also shares what attracted Drewlo, a London-based family company, to St. Thomas, including the city's Community Improvement Program (CIP), which helped make brownfield redevelopment financially viable by offsetting development charges and parkland contributions.

Groundbreaking on the first building could come as early as later this year.