The provincial government’s housing agency wants to build 35 units of supportive housing on one large vacant lot and on two lots on which houses now sit on Tetrault St. right across the road from the new Mills Memorial Hospital project.
But first B.C. Housing must purchase the properties which are located on the same side of Tetrault as Joe’s Place, Ksan Society’s homeless shelter.
The two residential properties, 2802 Tetrault and 2804 Tetrault, are privately owned and 2812 Tetrault, the largest of the three properties and which is a vacant lot, is owned by the Métis Nation British Columbia.
Information being made available by BC Housing indicates that the provincial agency, in conjunction with the City of Terrace and with non-profit agencies, has been looking at expanding the supply of housing for vulnerable people here for some time.
It also refers to the 2023 homeless count of 156 people, a 46 per cent increase over the 2022 count.
That 2023 number is significantly higher than the 77 homeless people counted in Williams Lake, the 57 in Smithers and the 102 in Fort St. John but close to the 146 in Prince Rupert.
Although no construction details are yet available, information from B.C. Housing indicates the 35 units would be self-contained and for one person each in a setting where there would be meals, counselling and other supports.
“Supportive housing provides a range of on-site, non clinical supports such as life skills training, connections to health care, mental health or substance-use services. Staff are on-site 24/7 to provide support,” reads information on the B.C. Housing website.
A purchase of all three Tetrault properties would not require zoning adjustments as all three are already zoned to allow a combined maximum of 35 housing units.
There’s also no indication yet if the housing project would be built as a conventional apartment-style or of modular units such as the supportive housing building called Sonder House adjacent to the Northern Health building.
Opened in 2019, Sonder House has 52 self-contained units and is run by the Ksan Society.
The large vacant lot at 2812 Tetrault was purchased by the Métis Nation B.C. in January 2022 with the intention of building a combined residential, daycare and office structure.
But it shifted its focus last year and instead has a tentative deal with the City of Terrace to purchase the large and empty property along Greig Ave. where the Terrace Co-op shopping centre once stood.
That deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.