The City of Coquitlam will fork over $5.95 million to Metro Vancouver for the regional agency to build more rental units in the City Centre neighbourhood.
Last month, city council OK’d the request to pull the cash from its Affordable Housing Reserve Fund (AHRF) to support the first phase of Metro’s redevelopment of Malaspina Village for rentals at 1144 Inlet St.
Council’s decision was made without comment, with Coun. Dennis Marsden absent.
The project includes 170 non-market units for low- to moderate-income residents to be owned and operated by Metro Vancouver Housing, staff say.
In the second phase, Metro plans to construct 303 non-market rental units. Currently, Malaspina is made up of 67 non-market townhomes built in 1982.
According to a report from Andrew Merrill, Coquitlam’s general manager of planning and development, Metro requested $35,000 per door for Phase 1 and is expected to seek additional money from the city’s fund for Phase 2 — in line the municipality’s contribution range of up to $50,000 per door in areas located in the high-density Tier 2 zone around transit-oriented hubs.
As of April 30, the fund was at $17.56 million, Merrill wrote in his report.
Metro plans to use Coquitlam’s money to offset costs like city permit fees and development cost charges, estimated at $6.2 million, and a public greenway.
“As construction costs and interest rates have increased substantially since the project was initially conceived,” Merrill wrote, “[Metro Vancouver Housing] has indicated the AHRF funding is an important element of the project. The funding afforded through the AHRF would allow [Metro] to redevelop and deliver on its affordability commitments, as agreed to in the [memorandum of understanding] between [Metro Vancouver Housing] and BC Housing.”
Merrill further stated that the property is now tax exempt following appeals on the municipal tax assessment, between 2018 and 2020. This year, he said, the total taxes for Malaspina would have been $179,429, if applicable.
Broken down, Metro will pay for Phase 1, at a cost of $168 million, through:
- CMHC mortgage = $57.3 million
- Metro Vancouver Housing cash equity contribution = $39.6 million
- BC Housing grant = $38.7 million
- Metro Vancouver Housing land = $23.5 million
- City of Coquitlam AHRF = $5.95 million
- CMHC grant = $3.6 million
The AHRF money to Metro is conditional on a housing agreement, Merrill said.
Metro Vancouver Housing has five sites in Coquitlam:
- Malaspina Village
- 1144 Inlet St.
- built in 1981
- 67 units
- 1144 Inlet St.
- Ozada Village
- 1205 Pipeline Rd.
- built in 1982
- 61 units
- 1205 Pipeline Rd.
- Park Court
- 100 Nelson St.
- built in 1979
- 30 units
- 100 Nelson St.
- Le Chateau Place
- 312 Schoolhouse St.
- built in 1980
- 24 units
- 312 Schoolhouse St.
- Chateau de Village
- 1111 Brunette Ave.
- built in 2000
- 86 units
- 1111 Brunette Ave.
