90 modular homes to be urgently built in Vancouver for the homeless

Dec 14 2022, 11:44 pm

A vacant property owned by the City of Vancouver just south of SkyTrain Main Street-Science World Station will be quickly transformed into a temporary modular housing complex for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

A secondary location, also owned by the City, is located on a parking lot next to SkyTrain Olympic Village Station.

These projects are intended to have a ripple effect in providing more stable accommodations for residents in the Downtown Eastside, including those living in the encampments of Hastings Street, and within Crab Park north of Gastown. But the selection of tenants would be prioritized based on an applicant’s individual need — first offered to those currently living in shelters.

During Wednesday afternoon’s press conference, Premier David Eby deemed this site as two temporary “bridge to housing” projects. A total of 90 modular units will be rapidly built by March 2023 at the City-owned sites of 1500 Main Street (Main Street-Science World Station) and 2132 Ash Street (Olympic Village Station).

The Main Street site is immediately south of 220 Terminal Avenue — Vancouver’s first temporary modular housing building, which opened in 2017 with 40 units in three storeys — and just east of the area’s McDonald’s restaurant. There will be 60 new additional units at this location.

For the Ash Street site, it will be smaller project, located immediately adjacent to the existing 2018-built, three-storey temporary modular housing building with 52 units. The remaining net gain of 30 new units will be found at this site.

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Site of 1500 Main Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

1500 main street vancouver 1

Site of 1500 Main Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

“Everyone deserves a safe place and services that they need access to. Encampments offer a sense of community for some people, but they are not safe or suitable form of long-term shelter and create significant risks for people and their well-being,” said BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon, who says both projects are being fast-tracked with the help of both the City of Vancouver and BC Housing.

Ken Sim, the mayor of Vancouver, said: “This is not a permanent solution, but these projects will deliver much-needed housing quickly, freeing up additional capacity and shelters around the city.”

However, unlike Vancouver’s well-established, multi-storey modular building design templates, the two new buildings will be different.

Eby explained these will be two one-storey buildings, which is an even simpler type of structure that allows governments to move faster to deliver the housing.

The one-time cost of preparing the sites, and acquiring and assembling the modular structures is $6.9 million, while the City is providing the land. An annual operating subsidy will also be provided by the provincial government to the non-profit housing operator.

The provincial government states the two additional buildings will remain at the locations for at least three years. Over this period, it is expected there will be a cycle of residents who will move into the temporary units, before they are finally relocated to new permanent housing currently under development elsewhere in Vancouver.

“It’s not going to be for everybody. Some people want to be a long way from the Downtown Eastside, others want to be relatively close. So we want to make sure it meets the needs of the folks who are living here so they are successful,” said Eby.

“One of the challenges we face sometimes is when we house people from homeless, they move back onto the street for one reason or another, so matching people with housing minimizes those numbers and keeps people housed.”

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Site of 2132 Ash Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

2132 ash street vancouver

Site of 2132 Ash Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

It is currently estimated there are about 475 people living outside in Vancouver.

The Crab Park encampment began shortly after the May 2021 dissolution of the Strathcona Park encampment, while the Hastings Street encampment — generally between Main and Carrall streets — began in July 2022 and has presented major public safety concerns to both those living in the encampment, and to residents, businesses, and property owners in the surrounding area.

“Getting people from encampments into dignified shelter where we get to know them, stabilize them, and know where their needs are, and from there we find good housing for them that matches their needs. Some people have limited support needs, and others have profound needs,” said Eby.

“This is a very significant project, and we understand too that there are some people in the encampments who may have housing, in SROs for example, that they find to be unliveable for one reason or another.”

1500 main street vancouver modular housing december 14 2022 press conference 2

December 14, 2022 press conference announcing modular housing at 1500 Main Street, Vancouver. (Sukhwant Dhillon/AM 600 Sher-E-Punjab Radio)

The premier also added that the provincial government will be creating an urgent response plan on how to end encampments and explore strategies that improve the conditions of the Downtown Eastside.

“Our next step is to develop a plan together around encampment response that everyone is on board with, and we’re all pushing in the same direction to make sure we are decamping in a way that respects people’s human rights and dignity, but also recognizes the encampments as we see them are unsustainable.

“Over the longer term, phases two and three, what does the future of the Downtown Eastside look like? How do we make sure it remains a predominantly lower-income community, but a healthier and happier place for families, seniors, and women? We have a regional challenge where we need all cities onboard with providing decent housing including housing with supports.”

The municipal government has long-term plans to redevelop 2132 Ash Street and the surrounding parking lot, as well as 1500 Main Street, 220 Terminal Avenue, and other properties it owns in the immediate area west of Main Street into mixed-use buildings with affordable rental homes and employment spaces, particularly for the creative sectors, in accordance to its False Creek Flats Plan.

Editor’s note: Additional information was provided about the 2132 Ash Street location.

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