A LOCAL social services society has revealed ambitious plans to build at least 20 low-income and affordable rental units on city-owned land in Terrace.
Ksan House Society executive director Carol Sabo asked city council Oct. 28 to consider granting it a long term lease on either one of two city-owned properties as well as $10,000 to help it do design work.
She described the proposed buildings, to be built on a concrete slab foundation, as easily assembled pre-fabricated units costing an estimated $90,000 each.
One of the parcels is on the 4900 Block of Park Ave. in the Horseshoe where it intersects with Kenney, the location once of a provincial highways ministry maintenance yard, and the other fronts on Haugland on the Southside and is adjacent to the society’s emergency shelter and short-term housing complex on Hall St.
Sabo did add the project would require a lot of volunteer help but said a partnership between the society and Northwest Community College construction programs would be key.
“What I want for all those groups is six strong backs for the weekend,” said Sabo of a call for volunteer help being put forward to various community groups and businesses.
Sabo said the plan responds to a growing need for housing in the community.
“Where, up to a year ago, a person could rent a 3-bedroom unit for $800 or $900, we are now seeing rents of $1,000-$1,500 for the same size unit. People on fixed incomes are in dire situations,” Sabo said in a written submission to the city.
Of the 20 units, eight will be rented at market rent and 12 at a fixed rate “tied to the maximum allowed by social assistance,” the report said.
The resulting income would cover costs and not require any public sector subsidy, the report continued.
The plan calls for single-storey duplexes, one being two bedrooms and the other having three bedrooms.
Council members seemed to like the idea, but the $90,000 construction cost per unit sounded low to some.
It was pointed out that the provincial government’s Market Estates senior and handicapped housing pre-fab complex on Davis Ave., located on the old farmers’ market site, cost $145,000 a unit.
Stacey Tyers said she would prefer to see the houses built on the Kenney and Park property because she worried about the ghettoization that might happen on the Southside property because of other low income housing in the neighbourhood.
Councillor Lynn Christiansen said the plan squared with Terrace’s goals because “housing is a top priority” of the city although she did wonder why they would not be sold instead of being rented.
The housing would be restricted to those earning less than $64,000 a year, said Sabo.
Sabo’s request included, aside from the long term lease agreement, to allow for an exception to the building bylaw that says units must be over 800 square feet, as some of the ones proposed are slightly under that size.
The $10,000 request would “allow us to have a contractor for advice, knowledge, and basically to assess the project,” said Sabo.
Council thanked Sabo and said they’d consider her request.
She said one of the next steps is to organize the volunteer effort.