New affordable housing project gets approval
Development will go up on what is currently a parking lot at 295 Backstreet Blvd.
A newly approved 40-unit affordable housing development in downtown Penticton may help attract a grocer to the community’s core, says a city councillor.
The project, which will go up on what is currently a parking lot at 295 Backstreet Blvd., received unanimous support Tuesday from city council.
Plans presented to council by developer EllisDon call for a fourstorey building featuring a blend of one- and two-bedroom apartments with commercial space on the ground floor.
Other amenities include 27 parking stalls and an outdoor play area for tenants’ use.
Development services manager Anthony Haddad described it as a “significant contribution to the affordable housing stock downtown, but within the larger city of Penticton as well.”
Coun. Max Picton acknowledged the project will result in a net loss of parking spaces, but believes it will help create a more walkable downtown in which vehicles aren’t required to get around.
And, he continued, “I really hope that we’re starting to near density levels in our downtown core that we can attract that grocery store that we’ve all dreamt about having in our downtown core.”
EllisDon, the company building the new Penticton Regional Hospital tower and parkade as a public-private partnership, came up with the project in response to the B.C. government’s call in 2016 for developers to build 2,000 units of affordable over the next five years.
Once the Penticton project is finished, EllisDon will sell it to BC Housing, which will in turn contract with a local non-profit group to operate the facility.
Work on the building’s foundation is expected to start within 60 days.