As a light dusting of snow clung to some of the ground, the affordable housing project on 571 Shaw Road, near Christenson Village in Gibsons, broke ground after years in the making.
On Nov. 8, the crew was already at work as the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society (SCAHS) welcomed the progress with a ceremony at the site.
After the “long and arduous struggle” past SCAHS president Mike Alsop described — including the rejection of their first application for funding from BC Housing — the four-storey building will accommodate 40 units in total. Nine will be completely accessible and the remaining 31 adaptable to individual needs. It will be mixed-income housing, and all will fit the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) definition of affordability (30 per cent of the family’s income), Alsop added.
The society’s president, Kim Darwin, said construction will take about 18 months to complete and hinted at a “phase two” of the project: 30 more units next door on the same site. (An application for that proposal is in the works.) Darwin said people can add their names to a list on the affordablesc.org website, and they will be notified when applications for tenancy open. Anybody is eligible to apply.
Mechanical issues aboard the ferry prevented Patrick Weiler, the Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, from speaking on behalf of the Minister of Housing as scheduled. Instead, his constituency secretary (and Sechelt councillor) Donna Bell stepped in to announce $2.6 million from the National Housing Co-Investment Fund.
The impact of the project, Weiler’s statement said, “will ensure that families can raise their kids in a community they know and love. It will allow seniors to age gracefully in their home communities near family and it will improve the quality for everyone who lives here and foster a more vibrant and inclusive community.” His proxy went on to thank the partners gathered for their hard work.
The project is a partnership between the Government of Canada through CMHC, the Province of BC through BC Housing, the Town of Gibsons and the SCAHS. The province is contributing $1.6 million in combined grants and approximately $10.4 million in low-interest financing. CMHS is contributing a $2.6 million non-repayable loan. SCAHS is investing $583,000 as the Town of Gibsons will put $365,000 toward the project from its Affordable Housing Reserve Fund.
The Shaw Road site includes land contributed by the Town of Gibsons, which will be leased to the owner/operator SCAHS at a “nominal rate," a press release following the event said. Mayor Silas White shared a brief history of the municipality’s involvement with creating housing and acknowledged the neighbouring donation for the seniors housing by the Christenson family as well as years of work. At the ceremony, he said it is a “significant and meaningful day” and “a huge contribution to affordable housing on the Sunshine Coast.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons spoke of the importance of collaboration and investing in housing.
“We have a lot of catching up to do, and I'm really proud of the fact that our government, in cooperation with local, federal and Indigenous governments are building more housing. This is an essential part of that, like we're literally digging ourselves out of a hole and into a better future for people,” Simons said.
