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Sandy Hill’s Leanne Moussa has pulling off such a feat not once, but twice, and in so doing, became a neighbourhood legend of sorts.

Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

In 2012, Moussa led a group of 20 neighbours in the communal purchase of a historic carriage house on Blackburn Avenue to serve as a new home for the Bettye Hyde nursery school.

The model proved successful enough that three years later, she brought together a mix of residents and business investors to buy the All Saints church in the heart of Sandy Hill. It now serves as an event space, cafe, and the anchor of a future mixed-use development.

Moussa said the experience has been a positive one, particularly when it comes to community building. At Bettye Hyde, they worked to ensure subsidized daycare spaces, and at All Saints, students and retirees mingle in apparent harmony at its cafe tables and community events.

Contrary to what one might assume, these were not investment projects reserved for the ultra-rich, Moussa said.

“Everything’s relative, but I would say for a lot of people, it was a fair amount of money,” she said. “They liked the ability to put their money someplace where they could walk by every day and see a tangible impact in their neighbourhood.”

That said, Moussa doesn’t think property purchase is the best way to influence development – in fact, she described it as more of a last resort.

“I think, in part, it reflects frustration moving though normal democratic process,” she said. “I know many people over the last 15 years – smart, organized people who have worked diligently to try and shape development. And I think they’ve had limited success. Certainly for me, that’s why I did this,” she said.

“I would say this has come out of a need to have some influence on the process.”

Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

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