A commentary by the executive director of Greater Victoria Housing Society.
If you support creating walkable, vibrant neighbourhoods that help meet the needs of our growing city, you should support the proposed Roundhouse at Bayview Place project in Vic West.
The development will be considered by Victoria city council on Thursday.
As part of this proposal, the developer — Focus Equities — has agreed to donate a half-acre parcel of serviced and shovel-ready land to the Greater Victoria Housing Society for the construction of below-market rental homes.
This donation is unprecedented for our organization, and perhaps in Canadian history to a not-for-profit housing provider. It will allow us to build about 200 affordable rental homes.
All the housing proposed in this development is important and desperately needed in the city, but especially the affordable units that will become home to low-to-moderate income households who are struggling to find places to live and fully engage in our community.
We and the community cannot afford to let this opportunity pass us by.
It is common to hear that we are in a “housing crisis.” The data supports this; the housing need for low to moderate income households is large, and growing, in our region.
UBC Housing Assessment Resource Tools research finds that 70% of low-income households, and 31% of moderate-income households, demonstrate a core housing need, meaning they pay more then 30% of their gross income toward housing. That amounts to more than 8,000 households in Victoria alone that need adequate affordable housing.
The province has challenged the City of Victoria to build 4,902 net new housing units, including 1,798 below market, over the next five years. This project would help the city get one step closer to that goal.
We must build more housing in Greater Victoria for all our community members of different income groups, and household types, but especially working individuals, families, and newcomers.
These households are the engine of our economy. They work in the health care and public sectors, teach in our schools, drive our public transit, and contribute to the success of our tourism industry.
Non-profit housing, like the one proposed, is key to meeting this need for households not being served in the private market, while keeping it affordable for decades to come.
As a non-profit housing provider, Greater Victoria Housing Society has a 67-year history of building affordable rental housing for low-to-moderate income households. We serve 1,300 residents in 19 properties across the region and are known for our service excellence.
We are also industry leaders in constructing high performing, sustainable buildings, property management, and how best to serve low-to-moderate income residents.
Our single biggest obstacle to building more affordable housing is land.
Our experience managing and creating successful affordable housing hinges on the hard task of finding land to make a housing development budget work.
Land is expensive and difficult to purchase for non-profits, limiting the number of projects we can build to meet growing community need. Acquiring this land is essential for us to access the needed grants and financing from governments to build, maintain, and manage new affordable housing.
This Focus Equities donation is rare. These homes could not be built otherwise.
The Bayview location is the perfect place to create new homes close to schools, parks and trails, downtown, transit, and the beautiful Victoria harbour. The project includes heritage conservation, child care, and other amenities that will positively contribute to the vibrant community in Vic West.
This alignment with a private landowner is an innovative solution that shows how we need to roll up our sleeves, work together across sectors and find creative ways to do our part to tackle the housing crisis. This approach may even be a model for large future developments — how great would it be to have affordable housing included in projects of this scale in other locations in the province!
Without this land, we simply cannot build these much-needed below-market homes as part of a vibrant, walkable neighbourhood here in Victoria.
If city council approves this rezoning application, this project can proceed without delay.
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