Advocates rally against closure of Vancouver modular housing

A modular housing project in Vancouver is set to close at the end of July, and advocates could be seen protesting its closure Tuesday, saying it will only make homelessness worse.

Larwill Place is used by unhoused people, or people at risk of becoming unhoused in the city’s downtown core.

“Until we get enough housing for every single homeless person – we can’t go demolishing them and removing them away from where they’re needed,” said former Vancouver City Councillor Jean Swanson.

Larwill Place has 98 apartments in two buildings. Each unit with its own bathroom, and it has provided temporary supportive homes for over three years, according to the City of Vancouver.

The buildings sit in a parking lot at 610 Cambie Street, which is also the site for the new Vancouver Art Gallery.

“There’s a lot of people here that have mental health issues, people that are being catered to who have, for safe needle injections kind of stuff, it’s a safe place for that too,” one Larwill Place resident told CityNews.

“There’s a lot of money that goes into this just to tear it down – it doesn’t seem to make any sense.”

Meanwhile, B.C.’s Housing Minister says everyone living at Larwill Place has been offered alternative housing options.

“This site in particular is a site where the lease has come up. If the City of Vancouver were to offer us an alternative location, we certainly would look at the opportunity. But as of now, we’re still searching for where that next opportunity will be for these modulars,” Ravi Kahlon explained.

Related articles:

• Burnaby to get almost 1,500 ‘affordable’ homes: Eby

• Jericho Lands housing development looks to add 13,000 units of housing to Vancouver

• Vancouver rent hits all-time high with $2,700 average for 1 bedroom

Kahlon says they haven’t figured out where the new building will be, but an advocate says the province and city need to ensure the next opportunity for a modular home site is in Vancouver where they’re needed.

“We need to prioritize housing. Not losing housing for people that are homeless should be a bigger priority than entertainment on Granville Street, or cobblestones in Gastown, or other city priorities,” said Gilles Cyrenne, president of the Carnegie Community Centre Association.

But Kahlon says, even if these buildings don’t stay in Vancouver, new housing sites coming online make up for the loss.

“We just purchased the Chalmers Lodge, we’ve been purchasing other opportunities wherever they come, and we’ve been building historic amounts of new units as well,” he said.

“Many of the investments that we made four years ago when we came into government are now just starting to open — and we’re able to move people through.”