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Thirteen-storey BC Housing project at Arbutus and 7th Avenue will provide permanent shelter for 129 homeless people
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Jul 27, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 3 minutes read • 88 comments Artist’s illustration of the Arbutus project in Kitsilano, which will provide 129 single occupancy units. jpg
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Vancouver City Council has approved the rezoning of the second of five BC Housing housing developments in the city, which will create 424 apartments for single homeless people.
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Council voted Tuesday night in favor of rezoning city-owned property on Arbutus Street in Kitsilano between 7th and 8th avenues (next to the planned Arbutus subway station) to allow a 13-story building with 129 single-person social housing units offering mental health and other supports. The project will be managed by the MPA Society, a long-standing not-for-profit agency with 220 full-time employees.
Each unit will have a kitchen and bathroom, and residents will have security of tenure, said Celine Mobules, the city’s director of housing and homeless services. She said 99 percent of the estimated 250 people currently living in tents and canvas structures along Hastings Street would jump at the chance to occupy one of these units.
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Last week, a community group called The Kitsilano Coalition asked the City of Vancouver and BC Housing to review the Arbutus social housing project after then-Housing Minister David Ibby fired BC Housing’s board. They were fired because the agency was found to sometimes award multimillion-dollar contracts without a rigorous process to ensure the best supplier was chosen.
Some neighbors worried the new construction would affect safety in the area, fearing the situation when the 147-unit Marguerite Ford social housing project on the 200-block of West 2nd Avenue opened and generated more than 700 police calls in 18 months. The complex is located opposite a primary school.
Count. Colleen Hardwick, who is running for mayor in October’s municipal election, was the strongest advocate for those neighbors and voted against the project. Councilors Melissa De Genova and Sarah Kirby-Yung also opposed the project.
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Hardwick said 75 per cent of the council’s 300 speakers opposed the project, including mental health researcher Dr. Julian Sommers, retired provincial court judge Tom Gove – who presides over the downtown municipal court – and staff at the nearby Home for recovery Sancta Maria House for women.
“Instead of standing up and asking for a better model, the majority of city council accepted the failed model presented by BC Housing as good enough,” Hardwick said.
Count. Adrian Carr, who supported the project, noted that former mayor Gregor Robertson had promised to end homelessness by 2015 and that this was a false promise as homelessness in the city was “worse than ever”.
Count. Lisa Dominato said the community consultation process for the project was lacking, but the MPA Society has a good reputation and will work to create a good tenant mix.
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The project was supported by the rest of the council and Mayor Kennedy Stewart.
“As more and more neighbors are pushed onto the streets due to a lack of supportive housing, this project offers hope for a better way forward,” Stewart said in a statement. “129 residents will soon have their own place to call home, with comprehensive services to ensure they are well supported.”
Part of council’s approval was that the MPA Society and BC Housing create an advisory group to hear any concerns once the project is operational, that a pedestrian-controlled flashing traffic light be installed at 7th and Arbutus, and that the project considers the supply of more than single-person employment in the blocks.
The other BC housing project that has been approved is on the 1400 block of King Edward Avenue East. It will be a 14-story, 109-unit building managed by the Vancouver Native Housing Society.
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The three projects that have yet to receive rezoning approval to move forward are a planned six-story building at 2930 Renfrew St. offering 50 unit units operated by the Lu’ma Native Housing Society, a six-story, 64-unit building at 2,500- block at South Grandview Highway, managed by Community Builders, and a six-story, 72-unit project at 1925 Southeast Marine Drive, managed by The Kettle Society.
dcarrigg@postmedia.com
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