$100K available for kick-starting affordable housing projects
Non-profit groups that need help getting their affordable housing plans off the drawing board can now draw on the generosity of for-profit developers.
At its meeting this week, Penticton city council agreed to create a $100,000 fund from which non-profits can seek cash to help with the pre-development work required to apply for capital funding from senior governments.
The one-year pilot program emerged from the city’s $50,000 contribution in 2022 to the South Okanagan Similkameen Brain Injury Society, which used the cash for conceptual drawings and a landuse study for a potential affordable housing project on the site of the former Shielings Motel.
Capital grant programs for affordable housing are highly competitive and often have short timelines, which makes it hard for non-profits to compete, according to Jamie Lloyd-Smith, social development specialist for the City of Penticton.
“By doing that necessary pre-development work, it’s really putting Penticton at the top of that list of applications,” said Lloyd-Smith in her report to council this week.
“Having the municipality come to the table in a really formal way is a great way to demonstrate the community’s commitment to this work, and then perhaps most obviously it’s a way to help with the provision of attainable housing in the community.”
The program will be similar to those in other B.C. cities, like Kamloops and Victoria, and managed entirely by city staff.
The $100,000 is coming from the city’s Affordable Housing Amenity Contribution Fund, which has a balance of $260,000 and was seeded over the past 15 years by cash from developers in exchange for extra density in their projects.
SOSBIS has twice been denied capital funding for its project at the Shielings Motel site, where it envisions upwards of 64 units on what is city-owned land.
City council’s first quarterly open house of 2024 is set for Wednesday, March 20, at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre.
The informal session will run from 4-7 p.m. and give members of the public a chance to ask questions of city council and staff about whatever is on their minds. There will be family friendly activities available to keep kids busy, too.
“We have a number of important initiatives happening right now that will help shape how we move forward as a city, especially around changes to the Official Community Plan, so we want to invite residents to participate in these important discussions,” said Mayor Julius Bloomfield in a press release.
“We want to hear all voices from our community, so we’re offering kids activities to help parents participate too.”