The City of Burnaby is moving forward with its social housing strategy, approving 200 new non-market housing units at a council meeting this week.
A couple of years ago, the city created a city lands program for non-market housing projects. The city takes density bonus money it gets from new developments and then offers city land to non-profit groups to build affordable housing. The agencies are given a nominal lease rate and the land costs are offset by the housing fund.
Council approved the first two city-owned properties for the program in late 2015, at 7898 Eighteenth Ave. and 3802 Hastings St.
Last April, a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI) process began to gauge interest for the sites. On Monday night, council approved two proposals, submitted by SUCCESS and New Vista Society.
The Hastings Street proposal (SUCCESS) would see up to 190 units built with a range of sizes, from studio to three-bedroom options. The Eighteenth Avenue proposal (New Vista Society) is for up to 26 units, including one-bedroom and three-bedroom options, according to a staff report.
Coun. Colleen Jordan noted seven non-profits responded to the RFEOI, submitting nine proposals in total.
“Last spring we put out the RFEOI really not knowing anyone would answer,” she said at the meeting. “Now we know there is certainly opportunities and capacity in our community to take on these projects and it’s a good time, but it is still reliant on other levels of government to bring out their long awaited funding for these things.”
Mayor Derek Corrigan chimed in, saying the city has done everything it can to do its part, by offering up the land, but the provincial and federal governments still need to come to the table with money for affordable housing projects.
“The only difficulty I ever have is that this money often is in the newspapers, but it isn’t actually in the hands of any of the bureaucrats who can actually deliver it,” he said. “I’m hopeful at this point that we actually see the money because for these groups, it’s absolutely crucial for them to be able to get the support to ensure that even though they’re going to be able to build these on city land that will be leased to them, that they’ve got the money to be able to sustain them and to operate them over the long-term.”
The next steps for the two proposals will require SUCCESS and New Vista Society to seek B.C. Housing funding. The city will also work with the organizations to explore other funding options. A further review of the proposed projects will also take place, followed by development approvals.
