The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has announced the development of 130 mixed-income housing units in downtown Victoria.
This is the largest purpose-built affordable rental project of its kind in downtown Victoria and will be located in a mixed-use building above a new fire hall at 1025 Johnson St.
See also: New 6-storey affordable rental building coming to downtown Victoria
“This is the first new affordable housing to be built for people in our downtown in more than 20 years,” said Victoria mayor Lisa Helps.
“It’s exactly the kind of response to the housing crisis we need from community-minded companies like these, working in partnership with the provincial government and our local housing providers. This project also brings our community a new home for our Fire Hall #1 that will meet the highest standard for a post-disaster public safety building.”
Here’s a breakdown of the types of rental units:
- 26 studios and one-bedroom units for people with low incomes (i.e., people receiving income assistance): $375/month.
- 65 rent-geared-to-income units (people with low to moderate incomes): approximately $640/month for one-bedroom units to $840/month for two-bedroom units.
- 39 middle-income units: approximately $1,750/month for two-bedroom units to $2,000/month for three-bedroom units.
These units will be built by Pacifica Housing and Dalmatian Developments, and range in size from 365 to 1,011 sq ft.
An investment of $19 million plus annual operative funding has been granted to Pacifica Housing from the Province’s Building BC: Community Housing Fund.
See also: Construction begins on 48-unit family rental apartment building in Colwood
According to a statement from the ministry, this project is phase one of the development, as future phases will see the creation of 370 market-rate homes in total.
At this time, there is no estimated date of completion or a timeline for when new tenants can start applying for these units.
These 130 new apartments are a part of 680 homes complete or underway in Victoria, and 782 student homes at the University of Victoria, funded through the Building BC program.
