Like many rural Saskatchewan communities, Humboldt’s housing market has often been a feast or famine proposition. With an anticipated influx of workers for BHP Jansen’s operations and ancillary businesses and industries, the need for housing has never been more critical. 

It’s part of the reason that Andrew Breker of Breker-Kunz Properties began making moves to fill the immediate need of term housing custom geared for new arrivals to Humboldt. A year ago, Breker and partners purchased land attached to the south trailer park development in Humboldt, rebranding it Southern Pines Acres. His next move was to start on a 24-unit development as the starting point to relax that housing crunch for incoming workers or newly arrived families looking for a start.  

“It was seeming like it would be a tough goal to meet,” Breker confided, “But luckily, we found a package of nine homes in Estevan, and we moved them in, so we were actually able to do 17 homes last year. Six of those are four-plex modulars, which add 24 units to the city.” 

In addition to the homes picked up in a single deal from Estevan, Breker and his colleagues have been sourcing mobile homes in all corners of the province.  

“All the single-family homes outside the Estevan package have come from different towns – from Kindersley, Carnduff, Battleford, Stoughton, Lang – all over the place including some from the local area. It’s been quite an adventure and we’ve put on a lot of miles in the last couple of years.” 

Breker trailer 1.JPG Interior of four-plex unit reveals a comfortable living space. 

With eight lots left in the original park site left to go, Breker is hoping to see those filled by fall. When the homes hit the pads in the Humboldt park, Breker’s team goes to work seeing that everyone is hooked up, refurbished to a high standard, and ready for new owners or tenants.  

When Breker-Kunz purchased the park in 2021, there were 44 pads on site with only eight homes. Now, with one lot used for service, there are nine left to go. The remaining homes will need to be 70 foot maximum to accommodate the small lots remaining.  

The homes provide immediate relief in the low to mid-income range, a resource that’s sorely needed in many Saskatchewan communities. Breker sees the homes as perfect for new arrivals in terms of accommodation before moving on to other housing in the community. 

“It’s a great place for people to call home in the long term, but it’s also a great place for people to get into town and decide what they want to do.” 

The park purchase included an additional five acres of land, noted Breker, so that leaves room for some expansion down the line. 

“We do have plans for more affordable housing for Humboldt. The nice thing about mobile modular is it can happen quickly. Even if we do new homes, the factory in Estevan can put out seven a week, so this could be a great way to solve part of the housing crunch quickly.” 

The Estevan package purchase was backed by a partnership investment with Trevis McConaghy of Melfort to create Southern Pine Homes as a joint venture.  

While developers are needed to boost the inventory of homes in Humboldt and area, and the newly for S 4-6 partnership looks to facilitate that, Breker knows that in the interim, there are options available through the efforts of Breker-Kunz Properties and the work done to the Southern Pines parcel.