Christine Wood
Dale Allenback and his business partner Denis Goulah are planning to build a new 227-unit congregate care seniors' housing complex in Sechelt. They are holding an open house to unveil their plans to the public on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Sechelt Seniors' Centre.
"Basically we will be providing not only apartments but also two meals a day. There will be a huge common area and provisions for doctors' offices, a hairdresser, a games room and a craft room," Allenback said.
Allenback is a local engineer with Sunshine Coast Engineering and his partner is a businessman from Langley.
"The idea was Denis' really. He has been involved with units similar to this type in Vernon called Canterbury Court," Allenback said.
The pair currently owns a 10-acre property on Tower Road in Sechelt just off Nickerson Road. Allenback says they are now working with the District of Sechelt to rezone the property accordingly and obtain a development permit.
"We hope to have that completed by mid-October, and we hope to be turning ground sometime in November," Allenback said.The project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2008 at a cost of about $50 million.
"We perceive there is a need for congregate care seniors' housing on the Coast and we want to help fill that need," Allenback said.
The proposal calls for some of the apartments to be rented at a cost of around $2,600 per month while others will be sold under a strata structure.
The rental suites will include laundry and cleaning services once a week as well as two meals per day.
Allenback says the final costs for the rental suites could change as building costs could go up during the development.
"It's hard to have a firm price at this point because all our costs haven't been tied down yet," he said.
Allenback plans to have layout drawings and artist renderings at Wednesday's open house and hopes many in the community will come to hear about the plan and offer their feedback.
"We will be there to respond to questions and we will have questionnaires for people to write down their comments and criticisms. We're certainly prepared to look at minor changes if they're needed," he added.
