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Elkford property added to BC Builds property list
Proposals are being sought for eight pre-zoned housing sites on public lands that have been added to the BC Builds property list to fast-track more rental homes to be built for people with middle incomes in B.C. One of those sites is at 421 Boivin Road in the District of Elkford.
Launched in February 2024, BC Builds delivers more homes middle-income earners can afford through low-interest financing, grant funding, and leveraging government-, community- and non-profit-owned and underused land, a B.C. government media release noted.
Working closely with First Nations, non-profits and local governments, the eight parcels of pre-zoned land from the Interior to Vancouver Island have been secured for future BC Builds projects and are now available for housing development.
BC Builds is seeking proposals to connect residential developers and housing operators to the landowners of these pre-zoned sites through a new online platform on the BC Builds website.
By providing pre-zoned land, low-cost financing and grant funding, these sites will be developed into homes people and families with middle incomes living and working in that community can afford.
All BC Builds projects have a target of households with middle incomes spending no more than 30% of their income on rent.
“Our communities and our economy depend on middle-income people like teachers, nurses and construction workers, and they depend on being able to find a decent place to live within their budget,” said Premier David Eby. “By bringing together public landowners and housing developers and operators through BC Builds, we are transforming underused public land throughout the province into thousands of lower-cost, middle-income rental homes.”
“We’re dealing with a housing crisis and governments must play an active role together with non-profits and the private sector to build as much housing as possible,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “BC Builds is getting British Columbia back into the game of building middle-income housing as quickly as possible by connecting public lands with homebuilders and non-profit housing operators.”
The eight housing development opportunities are:
* District of Elkford, 421 Boivin Rd.
* City of Kamloops, 377 Tranquille Rd.
* City of Kelowna, 1428 St. Paul St.
* District of Sooke, 6671 Wadams Way
* Municipality of North Cowichan, 9800 Willow St. (Chemainus)
* Township of Langley, 20230-72B Ave.
* Township of Langley, 27200 Block of Fraser Hwy.
* Township of Langley, 7883-199 St.
Information is available on the BC Builds website for each parcel of land, which includes details about the property, evaluation criteria for housing proposals and proposal submission deadlines. BC Builds will facilitate partnership agreements and lease terms between landowners and developers, and help support the evaluation of proposals to match zoned land with developers and housing operators. Information about the submission process is also available on the website.
Some of the landowners are seeking proposals from First Nations, non-profit or private residential developers to deliver housing projects for their pre-selected housing operators. Other landowners are seeking proposals from developers and housing operators to enter into a long-term land lease, build, own and operate the housing on their land.
Once a developer and housing operator are identified, the BC Builds model will turn the identified sites from concept to construction in 12-18 months, rather than the typical three to five years. This acceleration is accomplished by streamlining municipal development processes and having the BC Builds team working collaboratively with landowners, local governments, and residential developers to remove any barriers.
First Nations, government, non-profit and community landowners can submit additional suitable parcels of land for future projects by reaching out to BC Builds staff.
BC Builds is supported by a $2-billion low-cost financing from the B.C. government and a provincial commitment of $950 million for the overall program, as well as $2 billion in additional financing from the Government of Canada.
For projects in partnership with non-profits and First Nations, at least 20% of all BC Builds homes will have rents at least 20% below market rate.
All BC Builds units have a target of households with middle incomes spending no more than approximately 30% of their income on rent.
The rents for BC Builds homes will not exceed the market rent for that community and will, in many cases, be below market rent.
Lead image: 421 Boivin Road is located to the middle right of this image. e-KNOW file photo
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