Dauphin builders in no rush to fill anticipated demand

A Dauphin developer said he won’t start building homes in preparation for the new Dauphin Centre for Justice until significant work on the facility has taken place.

Gary Tkachuk said it’s financially smarter for him to wait before building additional homes in case construction on the facility falls through.

“I would never, ever get excited and take a chance and build some (homes) on speculation that it’s going to happen,” Tkachuk, the owner of Gary Tkachuk Contracting, said Friday.

“Governments are funny things. They can change their minds in minutes.”

Tkachuk said provincial governments of the past have cancelled plans for a new jail after they had been announced and he doesn’t want to spend money just to see that happen again.

Despite Justice Minister Matt Wiebe in March saying that shovels will hit the ground on the $142-million facility this year, Tkachuk said he would likely wait for a concrete pour before he starts his work.

“Neither one of us will stick our necks out too far until the building starts getting constructed,” he said about himself and other developers.

Once substantial work takes place, things would totally change for him, he said, and he would start working on spec houses. Those homes can easily be built in six months, he added.

The NDP previously said the facility will create 80 jobs once built and take two years to complete.

Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak said the city is in a housing shortage and will have to work harder to get more units built, both to meet the needs of the justice-centre staff and Assiniboine College students.

Students at Assiniboine’s Parkland campus have a hard time finding housing if they don’t already live in the area, he said.

“What we’re trying to do here is by bringing more housing to the general market that helps all those different specific areas,” he told the Sun last week after the provincial government’s announcement that a paramedic course will be offered at the college in Dauphin next year.

Bosiak said the city is looking forward to the addition of some multi-family units that will be coming into place in time for the construction of the justice centre.

The city’s economic development manager said he doesn’t blame developers for hesitating before undertaking substantial work, as promises have fallen through in the past.

Martijn van Luijn agreed the city has a housing shortage and said there isn’t currently any land available for new housing as infrastructure needs to be built for a new development. He also said homes have seen a sharp increase in value.

Van Luijn said the city has a “long-term vision” for the way it is working on housing and will be helping developers get more land ready for building.

Infrastructure, including roads, water and street lights, which he said are all expensive, need to be in place first. The city plans to offer incentives to developers to get the land ready, including supplying manpower, material or a rebate for after work is done.

That will help keep costs lower for buyers, van Luijn said.

“It’s really a story about growing your community to be able to create a livable, active, desirable community,” he said.

“If you don’t grow, you’re not moving forward,” he said about the city’s model.

Though the city is moving forward, he noted it is in “catch-up” mode in the way it looks at development.

Van Luijn added that the city needs all types of housing, especially affordable homes that would have to be subsidized by other levels of government.

Tkachuk said single-family homes and fourplexes are what’s probably going to be needed in the city.

The developer said if the homes were to be built and the justice facility stalls, he could be forced to pay the insurance, interest and taxes.

“If it sits empty too long, you will go broke, no matter how rich you are,” Tkachuk said.

Dean Zimmer of Dean Zimmer Construction said his main concern is that there aren’t any lots ready in the city right now, and likely won’t be for a while.

He said there will be a “big crunch” on housing once all the servicing is done and the jail could already be underway.

“It might take two years to get all the servicing in on a piece of land for me to get ready to build, so I mean, time is of the essence,” Zimmer said.

He would be working on one house at a time, he said, and work with buyers as lots are available.

Right now, it’s just figuring out who’s going to build and pay for the infrastructure, Zimmer said.

If the justice centre gets built in a timely manner, he said, fewer supplies will be available.

The justice centre will have 100 beds and was originally promised by the NDP government during the 2023 election campaign.

The former jail in Dauphin was shuttered in 2020. It also provided about 80 jobs.

» alambert@brandonsun.com