Developers look for financial and non-financial support from the city for affordable housing project
By Timothy Schafer
An affordable housing project that is “very close to shovel ready” is asking the city to overlook other projects that are preparing to solicit grant money in favour of its proposal, as well as around $700,000 in financial support.
The working committee for the Kootenay Christian Fellowship Share Housing Initiative appeared before city council Monday night during its committee of the whole meeting asking for two levels of support for its proposed 42-unit affordable housing development on Falls Street.
Specifically, the Fellowship asked the city to provide both financial and non-financial support to the project in the amount of $700,000 for the $6.3-million project. Cover Architecture, the project’s development consultant, and city staff met this week to try and understand all the municipal and other regulatory costs of the project.
“Financially, we estimate there is $520,000 in various financial levies that could apply to our project,” said one of the working committee members, Brad Howard — a retired accountant — in the presentation to council.
“We cannot afford those costs and meet our targeted rents.”
Although the final costs are not really known, Howard stated, the numbers are becoming clearer as the project moves forward.
“We are not only looking for a financial commitment, but a tolerance and understanding that as we move through this there will be other things that will come up. So it’s really hard to focus on the specific dollars at this point,” he told council.
“But you need to be specific about what you are asking,” Mayor Deb Kozak told the committee. “Perhaps a better course would be to have a further discussion with the planning department before this moves forward because the parameters are too blurry at this point.”
“Council will need a specific proposal from your group,” city manager Kevin Cormack told the Fellowship committee. “It’s hard for them to make a decision on something when there is not a specific proposal brought forward.”
With respect to the numbers, it was the position of the committee that, whatever it can achieve with granting and funding from the city and other government levels will help the project, said Fellowship pastor Jim Reimer.
“So what we are asking city council to consider giving us is the recognition that we need to have some funding, whether it is $500,000 or $600,000 or whatever it takes to get this project done,” he said.
The matter was referred to a future discussion at the next business meeting of council.
In the non-financial realm the committee asked city council and city staff to use its discretion to facilitate the building process where it could.
“We also need the city to work on our behalf with provincial agencies like Highways to move our project forward,” Howard said.
He told council that both BC Housing and the Columbia Basin Trust have indicated a need for the community to decide the priority between competing projects — they do not want to choose between project proposals from a community.
“At this time there are competing projects coming forward,” he said to council, referring to a Nelson Cares Society Lakeside Place redevelopment proposal that had come forward that night.
“We are aware that multi-bedroom units directed at low income seniors are needed in this community. Since SHARE Housing Initiative is so far advanced, let us do this one first, and then let us all throw our weight behind the next good project being proposed.”
Coun. Michael Dailly said having council decide to throw its weight behind one project or another had some merit.
“I think that is worthy of discussion, too, and see how that works,” he said.
Reimer said, “if we are going to take responsibility for our community then we have to do something around their housing needs.”
It was for this reason the Fellowship was willing to give up prime real estate, with an estimated worth of $775,000, with no financial gain to the charity, so people would have a place to live.
“We purchased 520 Falls Street with the express purpose to house Our Daily Bread, to have a home for our growing congregation, and to build an apartment building so people would have a place to call home,” said Reimer.
Where it came from
The Share Housing Initiative project began about 18 months ago. Reimer said the idea started in late 2014 with a few people on the Nelson Housing Committee with a vision and the Fellowship’s land donation.
Since inception, the Fellowship has held a public information session (April 2015), hired IHCI, an experienced development consultant (who did the Anderson Gardens project) in August 2015, worked with BC Housing including a meeting in Burnaby in March 2016, and recently met with staff of the Columbia Basin Trust, all specifically on the project. The Nelson Housing Committee passed a motion in support of the project last July.
Project parameters
The target clients, the target rents and the envisioned need all comes from the Nelson Needs Update and the Strategies Update reports done for the Housing Committee in late 2014.
In the executive summary of the Needs Update, two of the main housing gaps identified are affordable bachelors (studios) or one-bedroom apartments suitable for singles, and accessible rentals and ownership options for seniors in the urban areas of Nelson.
The project’s target clients are working singles and couples without children.
“Our units are compact but well suited for the clients in mind,” said Howard. “These targeted clients are the people working in our retail stores, lumber yards, coffee shops and tourist enterprises in Nelson.
“They are also the artists, socially committed workers at our not-for-profits and children of Nelson trying to stay here. Finally they are our seniors who have been squeezed out of affordable housing in Nelson and are excited about living in the downtown.”
Clients earn between $12.50 and $20 per hour, Howard said.
“They form the largest portion of our jobs. They do not need other social supports, they just need affordable housing,” he said.
Rents are targeted to be $600 per month for the studios and $800 per month for the one bedroom units. The units will be affordable (defined as 30 per cent of gross income) so $12.30 per hour for the studios ($24,000 annually) and $16.50 for the one bedrooms (combined $32,000 annually).
Forty-two newly built units are planned — 24 studios and 18 one-bedrooms. The ground floor will be parking and possibly future potential commercial use, and three residential floors.
Source: Kootenay Christian Fellowship
