The province will be purchasing another property in Victoria to house the homeless, including those camping on the courthouse lawns.
Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for housing, confirmed the province will purchase the former Super 8 hotel located at 2915 Douglas St for $6.5 million.
“Our hope is that anyone at the courthouse camp who is in need of housing will take advantage of the almost 200 units of new housing we are opening in Victoria.”
The hotel, restaurant and liquor store are still in operation – we have reached out to the province to see what the plans are for those facilities, but according to a source, they will be closed.
The building was put on the market in December of last year for an asking price just shy of $7 million. It was built as the Ingraham Hotel in 1960, then re-branded in 2003 as a Super 8 Hotel.
The 51 unit building will be renovated and converted into supportive housing for individuals needing short-term housing before moving into long-term stable housing.
The purchase is expected to be finalized by the end of September and with tenants moving in by November.
A non-profit operator will be selected to take care of the day-to-day operations of the building and provide support services to clients, including a meal program.
The province also said it is investing $148,000 to provide Pacifica Housing with 20 more rent supplements and a full-time outreach worker. There are now five outreach workers helping to connect people in need at the courthouse camp to long-term housing.
With the purchase of the Super 8 hotel and the recent acquisition of the Central Care Home, the B.C. government has invested $26 million to create 370 new units of shelter and transitional housing over the last year in Victoria, for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
