164 rental homes reach completion near Lafarge Lake SkyTrain in Coquitlam

Robert Nicklin Place at 3100 Ozada Avenue, Coquitlam. (Government of BC)

Earlier this month, residents began moving into the newly completed Robert Nicklin Place secured purpose-built rental housing building in Coquitlam City Centre.

This is a new six-storey wood-frame building at 3100 Ozada Avenue — located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Ozada Avenue (Guildford Way) and Pipeline Road, just kitty corner from Lafarge Lake Park’s southeast corner. It is also about a 10-minute walk from SkyTrain’s Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station.

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The building, operated by Affordable Housing Societies, contains 164 rental homes, including 74 affordable rental units, with 16 rental units being deep subsidy units for households with very low incomes, 36 rental units with rent geared to income, and 22 low-end of market rental units. The remaining 90 units are market rental homes.

The unit size mix is 65 one-bedroom units, 69 two-bedroom units, and 30 three-bedroom units.

This was a redevelopment of AHS’ 1980s-built townhouse complex with 57 below-market rental units. Designed by DYS Architecture, the new building on the same footprint represents a net gain of 107 rental homes.

robert nicklin place 3100 ozada avenue coquitlam rental housing affordable housing societies

Site of Robert Nicklin Place at 3100 Ozada Avenue, Coquitlam, in relation to its walking distance to SkyTrain Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station. (Google Maps)

Previous townhouse complex on the site:

The previous townhouse complex at 3100 Ozada Avenue, Coquitlam. (Google Maps)

New building on the site:

Robert Nicklin Place at 3100 Ozada Avenue, Coquitlam. (Government of BC)

The building is named Robert Nicklin, AHS’ previous longtime CEO of 27 years. He passed away in 2016.

According to AHS, the non-profit housing organization has a portfolio of over 62 projects with a combined total of over 3,600 units in more than a dozen municipalities across the Lower Mainland.

“With these new homes now built, families, seniors and individuals can remain in our community with their family and friends,” said Fin Donnelly, MLA for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, in a statement.

Stephen Bennett, the CEO of AHS, says his organization’s building naming decision honours “one of the great leaders in BC’s social housing sector,” before adding that the building “is going to have a profound impact in the Coquitlam community for generations to come.”

To achieve the project, the provincial government through BC Housing provided an $8.1 million contribution, the federal government through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation provided a $44.2 million low-interest repayable loan and a $1.9 million forgivable loan, and the City of Coquitlam provided a $3.3 million contribution. As well, Metro Vancouver Regional District, TransLink, and Coquitlam’s school district waived development cost charges totalling $869,000.

Additionally, BC Housing is providing about $110,000 in annual operating subsidies for the lifetime of the building’s affordable rental housing units.

According to the City of Coquitlam, as of the end of 2023, there are over 13,000 secured purpose-built rental homes in the pipeline within its jurisdiction, including over 2,000 rental homes currently under construction, with 445 homes being below-market units. The remaining 11,000 rental homes are in various stages of the municipal government’s development application process, including 2,000 below-market units.

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