Vancouver could double lifespan of temporary modular housing to 20 years | Daily Hive

City of Vancouver may double lifespan of temporary modular supportive housing to up to 20 years

Hummingbird Place temporary modular supportive housing at 265 West 1st Ave., Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Temporary modular supportive housing building sites in Vancouver could essentially be made semi-permanent over the longer term instead of the original intention of short- and medium-term temporary use, as the municipal government is now considering changing policy to double the maximum duration such structures can legally remain on a property.

The very first temporary modular supportive housing building was completed and opened in 2017, next to SkyTrain’s Main Street-Science World Station.

Currently, there are 10 temporary modular supportive housing building sites across Vancouver with a combined total of 618 single-occupancy studio units — each with a private washroom and kitchenette. The largest sites have two buildings with a total of 98 units, but the majority of the sites are single-building structures with roughly 40 to 60 units.

Three of these sites have been relocated or are in the process of being relocated, and one non-profit-owned site with 29 units is currently proposed by Lu’ma Native Housing Society for 1325-1333 East Georgia St.

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Currently, the existing municipal regulations enable temporary modular supportive housing buildings to remain in place for up to 10 years, with an initial five years enabled under the development permit application and a renewal of up to an additional five years under the discretion of the City’s director of planning.

With the oldest existing sites now beginning to approach 10 years old, City of Vancouver staff are now proposing policy changes that double the potential lifespan of such structures and uses on any site to up to 20 years. This change is currently up for public consultation.

City staff emphasize that the policy changes would not automatically grant all sites the maximum 20-year term; rather, the length would be determined through site-specific agreements.

larwill place temporary modular housing 610-620 Cambie Street Vancouver

The future site of the Vancouver Art Gallery (foreground) and the previous temporary modular housing (background) at the Larwill Place city block, with the temporary structures removed in 2023 in preparation for the construction of the new Vancouver Art Gallery. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Temporary modular supportive housing was introduced by the municipal government nearly a decade ago as one measure to provide individuals experiencing homelessness, mental health, and addiction issues with housing that can be more quickly built and at a lower construction cost.

Generally, the sites chosen for such structures are on lands awaiting a future permanent redevelopment, whether it be owned by the government or a partnership with a private landowner. There are currently such structures on the future Heather Lands development site, and such structures were also previously found at the Little Mountain development site and the future Vancouver Art Gallery site.

From the outset, it was also billed that such modular structures could be dismantled and reassembled on another site, but construction costs have greatly escalated ever since the temporary modular supportive housing program was first established, which hinders the financial feasibility of moving the structures.

Moreover, the pace of constructing new permanent purpose-built supportive housing buildings to replace the temporary structures has been relatively sluggish, which adds pressure to extend the lifespan of these sites to ensure residents are not displaced.

Nora Hendrix Place temporary modular housing building at 258 Union St. in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Government of BC)

Earlier this year, Vancouver City Council approved Mayor Ken Sim’s measures to establish a temporary moratorium on any net new supportive housing projects within the city that receive any kind of support from the municipal government. Instead, under the approved direction, there will be a greater focus on building new permanent purpose-built supportive housing as one-to-one replacements of the temporary sites and aging and dilapidated SROs. As well, such new permanent sites would be smaller in size with no more than about 50 supportive housing units.

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