Construction begins on Little Mountain housing redevelopment

Crews have finally broken ground at the site of an affordable rental housing building in the Little Mountain neighbourhood of Vancouver.

The lot has sat empty since 2009 since the existing social housing there was purchased by Holborn Properties Ltd. and demolished. The move displaced nearly 700 people.

Holborn was originally required to replace those units but claimed it failed to get financing. Vancouver city council last year voted to nullify the requirement.

Joo Kim Tiah, CEO of Holborn, says he feels bad about the whole situation.

“If it makes it any better, I would apologize about how it’s taken so long. It was never the intention. It’s a very long backstory about why it’s taken so long, but I don’t think we need to go there. What we can do is just focus on moving ahead as quickly as possible,” he said.

“This isn’t just a building; it’s an important step in creating an inclusive neighbourhood with diverse housing options for families of all income levels,” said Mayor Ken Sim in a statement Thursday. “I’m thrilled to see construction breaking ground on this much-needed social housing and community facility in Little Mountain.”

Sim says the project has a “long and checkered past.”

“We have the opportunity to two things – we can litigate the past and come up with reasons why we can’t do it and get positional. Or we can say look – there are a lot of people who need housing here and let’s make some hard decisions and let’s just drive forward.”

David Chudnovsky, Former MLA, Vancouver-Kensington who went to bat for the tenants that had to leave their homes says it’s very easy for Tiah and Sim to make these promises.

“Here’s a new promise. And those of us who have been listening to the promises for the last 17 years know what you can do with that promise,” he said.

“It’s pretty easy for him to say he’s sorry, and it’s also pretty easy for Mayor Sim to say this is a celebration this morning. What bad taste to say this is a celebration, the groundbreaking of a building that won’t even get us to replace half of what was there 17 years ago!”

A contract obtained by Chudnovsky through freedom of information requests revealed that Holborn bought this land in part with a big interest-free loan from the B.C. government, of which hundreds of millions is not payable until 2026.

“There’s one silver lining in this terrible story – is that this kind of sweetheart deal, this kind of development deal, is never going to happen again. Because people will remember what happened at Little Mountain,” Chudnovsky said.

The city-owned building will provide a mix of housing options, including 12 studio units, eight one-bedroom units, 16 two-bedroom units, and 12 three-bedroom units. Accessible units will also be made available for people with disabilities.

Tiah says all 282 units of social housing in the pipeline will be occupied by late 20-26.

The city says a minimum of 30 per cent of homes in the building will be rented at or below B.C. Housing Income Limits.

Located at 167 East 36th Avenue, the homes will be built in an area of the city with the highest ratio of households comprised of young families with children less than six years of age.

-With files from Kier Junos.