It’s already looking like it will be a busy start next year for the 2021 construction season thanks to two public sector housing projects.
Being planned is a $9.6 million project for 48 units for Indigenous people and a 22-unit complex, the cost as of yet unknown, is to be built for women and children needing short-term shelter while from fleeing domestic violence.
The Indigenous housing project was first announced in Nov. 2018 and construction was to have started by now but a first attempt to secure property was not unsuccessful.
Another site has now been purchased by the Vancouver-based M’akola Housing Society and it will now need to be rezoned and municipal permits obtained.
“The proposed 48-unit apartment building will be three-storeys and consist of 16 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom units, ranging in size from 600 to 1,225 square feet,” indicates B.C. Housing, the provincial agency which is providing the money.
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The second project is for the Ksan Society and is called second-stage housing meant as a short-term stay of anywhere from six to 18 months but that term could be extended depending upon circumstances.
It’ll consist of a mix of studio to three-bedroom apartments and will be located in a now-vacant lot on the corner of Lazelle Ave. and Munroe St.
The province will also provide money for counselling and other support services for residents of the complex.
Money for the Ksan Society complex is coming from a $734 million program to provide 1,500 units of housing over the next 10 years.
The M’akola Housing Society project here is one of five to be built in the north, part of a $550 million, provincial 10-year plan to provide accommodation for on-reserve and off-reserve indigenous peoples.
The society is also to build 23 units worth $7.5 million at Kitamaat Village while the Lax Kw’alaams WAAP Society is to build 60 units in Prince Rupert at a cost of $12 million and 20 homes worth $4.8 million at Lax Kw’alaams, located near Prince Rupert.
A fifth project is to be built at Skidegate on Haida Gwaii by the Skidegate Band Council and will consist of 24 units at a cost of $4.8 million.
Details of these projects will be announced as the planning for them continues.