Rescued from demolition, home to serve as transitional housing for Squamish Nation

A North Vancouver home slated for demolition was anonymously donated to the Squamish Nation this week.

The home has been relocated to an undisclosed location and is one step closer to becoming a transitional house for people in emergency situations.

Wilson Williams with the Squamish Nation says saving homes and repurposing them is especially important during a housing crisis.

“There is a need for our people. It will be home for our most vulnerable people and people who are going through a transition,” said Williams.

Glyn Lewis, the founder of Renewal Development, says it’s his company’s mission to save, relocate, and repurpose as many homes as possible.

“Instead of bulldozing this really nice rancher, we physically lifted it last night, and we moved it down to the Squamish Nation,” Lewis said.

He says about 2,700 homes are demolished in Metro Vancouver every year, and municipalities should incentivize those wanting to reduce waste.

“I think it’s really incumbent on local government to create more incentives for homeowners and developers to look at home relocation or deconstruction before they look at demolition,” Lewis added.

District of North Vancouver Coun. Lisa Muri plans to present a motion at a council meeting later this month that will provide incentives for more homes — regardless of their age — to be relocated rather than demolished.

“In [the District of North Vancouver’s] existing by law, we asked for homes pre-1950. And that’s where there’s going to be a bylaw amendment required,” said Muri. “We want to implement, through this motion, house moving as well.”

Lewis says his company is constantly looking for homes slated for demolition, that can be reserved for communities in need of affordable low-carbon homes.