A vacant lot along Hastings Street near the Burnaby-Vancouver border is on its way to becoming the home of new affordable rental apartments.
The development at 3838 Hastings St. will include two six-storey rental buildings with 161 units, along with ground-level commercial space, a 74-space child-care facility and adult daycare on the ground floor, according to a staff report from 2020.
The City of Burnaby has provided the land, valued at $28.3 million, and just approved a $3.1 million grant to SUCCESS, the non-profit housing developer and operator, at its meeting March 11.
One-fifth of the land comes from the federal government.
About 70 per cent of the development’s units will be rented at rates “affordable to households with very low and low incomes.”
The affordability breakdown is:
- 20% (32 units) rented at deep subsidy
- 50% (81 units) rent geared to income
- 30% (48 units) affordable market
Coun. Daniel Tetrault praised the number of “deeply affordable” units, at 70 per cent of the project, which he compared to Metro Vancouver’s projects that consider 30 per cent to be high.
He said the affordability levels will help a population that isn’t often served by other developments.
Coun. Sav Dhaliwal noted the city’s contribution to the project, when including the land, is more than both the federal and provincial governments' contributions to the project.
“It’s just a point to highlight how much we have been supportive in the city of affordable homes,” Dhaliwal said.
Funding breakdown:
- CMHC (seed funding): $50,000
- BC Housing (Community Housing Fund): $17.6 million
- BC Housing (cost pressures grant): $11 million
- City of Burnaby land (assessed value): $28.3 million
- One-fifth of the land contributed (valued at $3.23 million) comes from the federal government's Federal Lands Initiative
- City of Burnaby (grant): $3.1 million
The city’s grant will cover city fees, development cost charges, engineering fees and off-site works, Wendy Tse, director of community planning, told council March 11.
Councillors and the mayor noted it’s been a “long time coming” for the project to get to this point.
Governments have been discussing the project since at least 2011.
The development was initially approved in 2017, and the rezoning was submitted in 2019 and finally approved last year.
In 2020, the provincial government said it expected the facility to be complete in 2023.
Now, Mayor Mike Hurley said shovels in the ground are expected to come this May and the project to be finished in two years.
3838 Hasting St.'s unit mix (formerly 3802 Hastings St.)
- 26 studios (between 346 and 361 sq. ft.)
- 85 one-bedrooms (75 adaptable; all between 564 and 570 sq. ft.)
- 30 two-bedrooms (nine adaptable; all at 716 sq. ft.)
- 20 three-bedrooms (between 949 and 953 sq. ft.)
This story has been updated to include the federal government's land contribution.
