The Cowichan Valley Regional District will hand over $300,000 from the district’s Housing Trust Fund to help pay for pre-construction costs of the new Duncan Manor earlier than anticipated.
The CVRD board made the unanimous decision at its meeting on April 26 after receiving a letter from Shelley Cook, executive director of the Cowichan Housing Association, on behalf of the Duncan Housing Society.
The society intends to construct the new affordable housing Duncan Manor project at 486 Jubilee St. in downtown Duncan, next to where St. John’s Anglican Church is located.
RELATED STORY: NEW DUNCAN MANOR WILL BE BUILT AT CHURCH SITE
The CVRD previously approved the $300,000 grant for capital construction of the Duncan Manor project once final funding approval for the approximately $38-million initiative had been received from BC Housing, but Cook asked that the funding be disbursed before final approval is given by BC Housing.
“In order to get the project to the final funding-approval stage with BC Housing and ensure that the $38 million in funding earmarked for the project is not lost to the community, the Duncan Housing Society needs to access the funds now for capital costs for the new site; such as due diligence (geotechnical, environmental, arborists, etc.) work, design development, and municipal approvals,” Cook said.
“The society’s board would be extremely grateful to the CVRD for supporting this request. [The DHS] remains committed to this project and realizing the 118 units of affordable rental housing for Phase one of the project, and the redevelopment of Duncan Manor’s existing site for Phase two.”
Phase one of the redevelopment of Duncan Manor will provide 118 housing units for seniors and people with disabilities.
The existing three-storey Duncan Manor on First Street, which has 122 housing units, has reached the end of its life cycle and continues to require major repairs and investment to remain operational.
The DHS had proposed replacing it with an entirely new six-storey expanded facility at the current site with 133 new and affordable housing units when completed.
RELATED STORY: FUNDING COMES THROUGH FOR DUNCAN MANOR’S RENEWAL PROJECT
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the City of Duncan and the DHS in 2021 in which the city committed to considering swapping a portion of the nearby Lawn Bowling Club for a section of Centennial Park’s parking lot to make way for the construction of a new building on a portion of the parking lot.
But Duncan city council turned down plans for the land swap after many in the community raised concerns about the loss of green space if the proposal was given the green light.
The Anglican Diocese of British Columbia is the landowner of the new site on Jubilee Street and is interested in signing a long-term land lease with the DHS to redevelop the land to house the new Duncan Manor, as well as a new church hall for St. John’s church parishioners.
The existing St. John’s Parish church will be retained on the site.
Cook said an application to BC Housing’s Community Housing Fund will soon be submitted for Phase two of the project, which is the redevelopment of the site on which Duncan Manor is currently located.
“Phase two of the project has been conceptually designed to maximize the developable area of the existing Duncan Manor site following the relocation of existing Duncan Manor tenants to the new build and demolition of the building, with the intention to provide a net gain of new affordable rental housing units in the community,” she said.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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