Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Province to pour $45M into eight region housing projects

More than 500 new units of affordable rental housing will be partly funded at eight capital region sites from Sooke to Saanich with a $45-million contribution from the province, Premier Christy Clark announced Thursday.
Langfordview.jpg
Drawing of a project proposed for the West Shore.

More than 500 new units of affordable rental housing will be partly funded at eight capital region sites from Sooke to Saanich with a $45-million contribution from the province, Premier Christy Clark announced Thursday.

The money is part of $850 million the province has pledged since February, including $500 million in September, described by B.C. as the largest single affordable housing investment in any year by any province.

“Our government recognized the importance of ensuring safe and affordable housing options for families here in Greater Victoria and throughout the province,” Clark said in a statement.

“It is really good news,” said Dean Fortin, executive director of Victoria-based Pacifica Housing, which got approval for $15.5 million toward two of its projects on the West Shore.

A total of 152 units will be built on land that Pacifica owns. One project will be a four-storey residence across from Royal Roads University in Colwood and the other a multi-storey residence on Goldstream Avenue in Langford.

“This is all brand new housing. We’re extremely pleased,” Fortin said.

Affordable one-, two- and three-bedroom units will make life a lot better for more than 150 families, Fortin said. “We will be working directly with the municipalities to get rezoning. We hope to be in the ground next summer for both of them.”

Total cost of each project is estimated at about $18 million, with rental income to be used to offset their mortgages.

The Victoria Cool-Aid Society is getting $4.4 million toward a project for 75 low-income adults and seniors but would require more financial support from the City of Victoria and perhaps the Capital Regional District, said executive director Kathy Stinson. She declined to disclose the intended location, because it will require a rezoning and nearby residents have not been consulted.

“It’s not a done deal by any means,” she said.

Plans call for a new building with 25 units to be rented at the B.C. social assistance shelter allowance rate of $375 per month. Studio-unit rental would cost about $650 a month.

“I don’t think you can find a studio in Victoria for $650,” she said. “I think it’s exciting and I hope there’s enough people to work on all the projects.”

Some of the units might be for people who have formerly been homeless but Stinson said she does not envision homeless people transitioning straight to this project.

With the $850 million, B.C. Housing is helping to fund nearly 5,000 units provincewide aimed at low- to moderate-income families, seniors, youth, students, adults with developmental disabilities, and aboriginal people. Newly constructed housing is expected to be finished within the next 24 to 36 months, the province said.

B.C. Housing spent $26 million this year in Greater Victoria to house people who had been living in the courthouse tent city, including $13.5 million for Central Care Home on Johnson Street, $6.5 million for the Super 8 hotel on Douglas Street and $3.9 million for Mount Edwards Court Care Home on Vancouver Street.

kdedyna@timescolonist.com

 

B.C. will help fund eight affordable housing projects totalling 511 units in Greater Victoria with a contribution of $45 million, confirmed Thursday by Premier Christy Clark.
They include:
• Colwood: 104 units for low-income adults via $8 million to the Greater Victoria Housing Society. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2017, with completion projected for spring 2019.
• Saanich: 74 units for working singles, seniors, families and adults with disabilities through $6.1 million to the Capital Region Housing Corp. Construction expected to begin in fall 2017 with completion projected for late 2018.
• Saanich: 40 units for low-income adults in the workforce constructed with the help of $3 million in capital funding to the Greater Victoria Housing Society. Construction expected to begin in summer 2017 with completion projected for late 2018.
• Saanich: 26 units for low- to moderate-income families, with $3 million in capital funding to Underwood Trust in partnership with Linda E. Ross Property Management Inc. Construction expected to begin in spring 2017 with completion projected for fall 2018.
• Sooke: 40 units for low- to moderate-income adults, families and seniors through $5.5 million in capital funding to Knox Vision Society. Construction expected to begin in spring 2017 with completion projected for early 2018.
• Colwood: 88 units for low- to moderate-income families through $8.5 million to Pacifica Housing Advisory Association. Construction expected to begin in summer 2017 with completion projected for fall 2018.
• Langford: 64 units for low- to moderate-income families through $7 million to Pacifica Housing Advisory Association. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2017, with completion projected for summer 2018.
• Victoria: 75 units for low-income adults and seniors through $4.4 million to the Victoria Cool Aid Society. Redevelopment expected to begin in summer 2017 with completion projected for fall 2018.