A new report evaluating a rezoning application for “32 secured for-profit affordable rental housing units,” isn’t so affordable.
The General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability for the City of Vancouver put forth the report on January 2nd.
In the report is an application to rezone 1906-1918 West 4th Avenue to develop a “five-storey mixed-use building with commercial uses at grade” along with the 32 units and “one level of underground parking.”
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Affordable Housing Project
The report states, “staff have assessed the application and conclude that it meets the intent of the Secured Market Rental Housing Policy.”
Sounds too good to be true? It just might be.
Rental rates for these units are estimated to start at $1,646 for a studio per month; $1,903 for a one-bedroom; $2,756 for two-bedrooms and $3,702 for three bedroom units.
According to the report, the applicant is Harkerson B.C. Wholesale Lumber (1966) Ltd.
This is what the building is proposed to look like:
The table below shows that the starting cost of a unit for this building is the same as rent for a new building on the West Side.
The report also stated that compared to owning a home, these rents are a more affordable alternative.
Although city council has to conduct a public hearing on the application, these rents will be applied on February 12, 2019.
However, the developer can increase those rents next year as allowed by the B.C. Residential Tenancy Act.
As for future occupants, these rents will actually be higher than the amounts stated in this report.
With all that said, this application does propose “100 per cent of the residential floor area [is] for-profit affordable rental housing.”
Maybe this is just what affordable housing looks like in Vancouver?
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