The city’s affordable housing agency, VAHA, has posted several RFPs to develop approximately 900 units of new rental apartments on seven city-owned sites to help alleviate the housing crunch.
The sites are located in downtown Vancouver, along Kingsway and in the River District. VAHA will lease the land to partners to build, fund and operate the new rental housing developments.
The developments will be targeted at singles, families and seniors with low to moderate incomes (under $80,000), and the rent will be set at below market rates.
VAHA RFP sites
1190 Burrard Street
Approximately 118 units of new affordable rental housing and a new purpose built facility for QMUNITY
1210 Seymour Street
99 units of new affordable rental housing in the Downtown South neighbourhood
177 West Pender Street
90 units of new affordable rental housing in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood
1001 Kingsway
43 units of new affordable rental housing with goal of approximately 50 per cent family residences
3279-3297 Vanness Avenue
69 units of new affordable rental housing with a goal of approximately 50 per cent family residences
3310 Marine Way
140 units of new affordable rental housing with 71 per cent family residences
3183-3245 Pierview Crescent
Approximately 330 units of new affordable rental housing
“We’ve heard that residents want bold action on addressing the housing crisis, and this RFP puts us on the path to do just that,” says Luke Harrison, CEO, Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency (VAHA). “The door is open to any and all qualifying organizations and big ideas on how to develop these seven city-owned sites to create the most affordable rental units.”
VAHA hopes to develop 2,500 new affordable housing units on city-owned lands by 2021.
The next upcoming project for the agency will be a mixed-use, 10-storey social housing building and health care facility at 58 West Hastings Street, developed in partnership with the Chinatown Foundation and Vancouver Coastal Health.
Vancouver’s first temporary modular housing project at 220 Terminal Avenue (at Main Street) was recently completed in less than nine months. VAHA says it’s exploring additional housing using temporary modular units.
