Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Terrace now has close to 100 new affordable homes in place after official openings today

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice is celebrating some welcome news for the Skeena riding, with the MLA calling attention to the roll out of the partnership between the Province, the City of Terrace and Ksan House Society today.

A much anticipated event that celebrated the opening and move to a new housing facility on Olson Avenue in the Skeena Valley community.

“Northwest communities like Terrace were left to suffer under the weight of a housing crisis for too long. These new homes will give people the peace of mind that comes from having a safe and affordable place to call home – something that every British Columbian deserves. -- North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice at today's official opening of new housing options for Terrace residents

Sonder House is a 52 unit modular apartment building which offers safe and secure homes on a 24/7 basis, it will be operated and maintained by the Ksan House Society which will deliver the meal programs, life and employment skills training and access to health and wellness supports.

The organization which is a non profit society in the Terrace area also celebrated the recent opening of Stone Ridge Estates, that facility recently began offering accommodation to low income individuals and families and provided for an additional 45 rental homes for the community.

Amanda Bains, the executive Director of Ksan House Society paid tribute to the assistance of the province and City of Terrace and observed how the housing will serve to fill a significant gap in the northwest housing situation.

“Having both the new affordable housing and supportive housing programs adds significantly to our portfolio and gives us the opportunity to provide a better housing continuum to the community of Terrace. These new programs are just the beginning to fill a very large gap in the housing sector in the northwest. We are thankful to both the Government of B.C. and the City of Terrace for their support,” 

The Terrace projects came together with the B.C. government providing approximately $10 million in capital funding for the modular supportive housing project and approximately $8.4 million in capital funding for the affordable housing project.

The City of Terrace provided the land valued at $220,000 for the modular supportive housing project and a $250,000 Affordable Housing Fund grant, municipal waivers in the amount of $178,000 and the land valued at approximately $441,000 for the affordable housing project.

You can learn more about Terraces twin housing openings today from this information piece from the provincial government.

The Ksan House Society also has some background on the two projects available for review here.

The Terrace housing announcement of today is just the latest in a growing list of housing developments that have been put in place, with Terrace seemingly taking the lead in the Northwest when it comes to providing the most roofs over the heads of those in the most need of late.

Earlier this year Ms. Rice was hosting a similar event in Prince Rupert which saw the opening of the 36 unit Crow's Nest Lodge take place in March.

That supportive housing facility in Prince Rupert quickly filled with tenants, while those that didn't make it into the facility or did not wish to move to the Park Avenue still currently making use of the Downtown Emergency shelter on Third Avenue West.

That facility which was originally described as a temporary move to address the city's housing shortage, continues to operate as we head towards the summer months.

Prince Rupert's housing situation took another turn towards the need for more affordable  housing options, after Raffles at Five corners began to close its doors to residents. That as renovations get underway for that housing facility, with its future direction yet to be fully presented.

In May the City of Prince Rupert announced plans to make an application for a housing grant from Northern Development Initiative Trust, in order to study  the city's housing issues further.

For a look at more notes related to Housing in the Northwest see our archive page here.

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

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