Close to 250 affordable rental homes are in the process of being built in Kelowna and West Kelowna.
B.C.’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson was in the city on Thursday to announce a new development project located at 1060 Cawston Avenue.
This project is a partnership between the federal and provincial governments, the City of Kelowna, and NOW Canada Society. Monthly rents are projected to range from $375 for a studio to approximately $1,835 for a three-bedroom unit.
Once it is complete, the four-storey building will provide an additional 40 affordable rental homes for low- to middle-income individuals, families, and women and children.
“People deserve safe and secure homes, but even middle-income people like teachers and small business owners have struggled to find affordable housing in the Kelowna area,” Robinson said.
“These new homes will mean that people - from young families to seniors - can stay in their community, close to their friends and family.”
Work has also started at three four-storey apartment buildings called Carrington View, which will deliver 186 new rental homes for people with middle incomes.
The province is partnering with Highstreet Ventures to deliver the net-zero energy homes for households making between $50,000 and $100,000 each year.
Projected monthly rents for the studio, one- and two-bedroom homes range from $1,210 to $1,590 per month. Carrington View is located at 2200 Majors Road in West Kelowna.
The province also partnered with the City of Kelowna and the Society of Hope to build 21 affordable rental homes at 165 Celano Crescent. Families moved into the homes in November 2019, with all the homes are now fully occupied. Monthly rents are $915 for a two-bedroom townhome and $1,100 for a three-bedroom townhome.
“The rental vacancy rate and costs in Kelowna makes it a struggle for many to pay market rents due to supply and demand. That’s why these developments are so important, adding to the ‘missing middle’ of housing inventory identified in the city’s 2017 housing needs analysis,” said mayor Colin Basran.
These housing projects are part of more than 22,000 new homes that are complete or underway around the province, including over 1,200 in the Kelowna area.
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