A regional housing society has officially resurrected an affordable housing development once deemed practically dead.
The Greater Victoria Housing Society (GVHS) last month officially submitted a revised version of its proposed redevelopment of Townley Lodge.
“While I have been concerned at how long the process has taken, and we still have a long way to go, I am feeling optimistic and proud of the new proposal,” said Kaye Melliship, executive director of the GVHS. “Our team has really worked hard to respond to the neighbours so that we can move forward.”
Plans call for 54 apartments for seniors and 10 family townhouses spread across a large three-storey building and a series of smaller buildings at 1780 Townley St. They would replace the current two-storey building, which the GVHS has operated since 1967.
Estimated construction costs top $20 million.
GVHS has scheduled an open house for June 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 1780 Townley Street.
“It will be familiar to the community as it was the most popular option at our last open house,” she said.
Original plans set out to replace the building’s current 39 low-income seniors rental units with 51 new senior apartments and 16 family townhouses across three building, including a four-storey building.
But the project ran into opposition when residents living near Townley Lodge raised concerns about the proposed four-storey building.
While these critics acknowledged the need for affordable housing, they feared that the building would diminish their quality of life and property values – concerns that convinced council to indefinitely postpone a public hearing for the project.
Several councillors noted at the time that GVHS had not done enough to win over the neighbourhood.
Council’s de-facto rejection of the proposal sparked criticism from affordable housing advocates and business leaders, and GVHS considered selling the property with proceeds going to fund affordable housing projects elsewhere, among other options.
GVHS, however, eventually revised its proposal over the course of multiple consulting sessions with community leaders and residents leading up to the final design that the GVHS eventually submitted.
Melliship said the revised project will hopefully before the district’s advisory design panel in early July, before council’s committee of the whole in late summer, early fall with a public hearing in late fall.