Families moved into Colwood’s newest affordable apartment complex on Friday, while the City of Victoria announced funding for 138 new affordable-housing units.
The four-storey, 82-unit apartment building in Colwood replaces 12 aging townhouses in the Colwood Lakes neighbourhood.
Called Helios, the development at 2006 Sooke Rd. is a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments that rent for $862 to $1,570 per month. Residents, including families, seniors and people with disabilities, were selected on the basis of income and need.
The project was funded by $8.4 million from B.C. Housing and $328,000 from the City of Colwood through its affordable-housing reserve fund. Pacifica Housing provided the land, valued at about $4 million.
Pacifica Housing worked with residents of the 12 townhouses that were torn down to make sure they were provided a home in the building, said Jaime Hall, the non-profit housing agency’s president and board chair.
Acting Colwood Mayor Gordie Logan welcomed those moving into Helios, which has a playground for kids and is close to amenities such as schools, shops and public-transit routes.
Mitzi Dean, MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin, said she was at the building’s groundbreaking last year and is impressed by how quickly construction moved along. The building opened months before its projected completion date this summer.
In Victoria, the city announced Friday it will spend $1.8 million on 138 affordable-housing units for families, seniors, single working adults and people with disabilities.
One of the buildings will be in James Bay, where the Capital Region Housing Corp. intends to redevelop a 62-unit, three-storey building into a four-storey, 98-unit building at 330-336 Michigan St. The land is already zoned for re-development and the project is awaiting development-permit approval.
The city is also working with the Greater Victoria Housing Society to redevelop a three-storey, 19-unit building to create a five-storey, 40-unit building in Quadra Village at 2558 Quadra St. The society purchased the building from a private owner and the project is subject to rezoning and development-permit approvals.
If both projects are approved, tenants of the existing buildings will receive compensation and relocation support from the two housing agencies, the City of Victoria said.
In February, Victoria councillors allocated more than $1 million for affordable-housing initiatives for the coming year, including a $750,000 increase to the city’s affordable-housing reserve fund.
