BC’s Ministry of Housing is seeking housing proposals for a parking lot in downtown Kelowna in an effort to “fast-track” more rental homes.
A news release says the former Northbridge Hotel is one of eight pre-zoned sites on public lands that have been added to the BC Builds property list to deliver more homes to middle-income earners.
The program, which was launched in February 2024, provides low-interest financing, grant funding and leverages government, community or non-profit-owned and “underused” land, the release says.
“We’re dealing with a housing crisis and governments must play an active role together with non-profits and the private sector to build as much housing as possible,” says Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing in the release.
“BC Builds is getting British Columbia back into the game of building middle-income housing as quickly as possible by connecting public lands with homebuilders and non-profit housing operators.”
Project proposals are now being accepted for properties in Kamloops, Kelowna, Elkford, Sooke, North Cowichan, and Langley.
The Kamloops site (377 Tranquille) was home to the former Northbridge Hotel which was demolished last spring.
Through the program, residential developers and housing operators will be connected to the landowners of each pre-zoned site through a new online platform on the BC Builds website while officials with BC Builds facilitate partnership agreement and lease terms between landowners and developers.
Each site will be developed into homes for people and families with middle incomes or spending no more than 30% of their income on rent, the release says.
Under the program, household incomes for families with children must not exceed the “75th income percentile,” which BC Housing based on Statistics Canada figures.
The 2024 figure is $191,910.
Families without children must not exceed the same percentile and must not earn more than $131,950 this year.
The program has ambitious goals of seeing projects move through the concept phase to construction within 12-18 months, rather than the “typical” three to five years, which the province says is accomplished by streamlining development process and having BC Builds officials working “collaboratively” with landowners, local governments developers throughout the process.
“The City of Kamloops is excited to work with BC Builds to realize more attainable housing in our community,” says Reid Hamer-Jackson, mayor of Kamloops in the release.
“This is another step toward the realization of the North Shore Neighbourhood Plan and underscores the council’s commitment to increasing the inventory of diverse housing options and facilitating more opportunities for residents to access housing.”
According to BC’s Ministry of Housing, the eight sites are joining the 8,000 to 10,000 homes for middle income households that are to be built over the next five years.
The program is supported by a $2 billion low-cost financing from the provincial government with an overall commitment of $950 million for the program and $2 billion from the federal government.
