Vancouver may chop the affordable housing component of its over-budget Olympic Village in two, keeping half of the units for social housing and renting the remaining suites at market value to essential services workers like police officers and firefighters.
Three different options will be debated in council tomorrow.
Even by renting half the units at fair market value (based on size and location) as staff recommend, the city would carry a rental-supported mortgage of $46 million and would still be on the hook for $32.1 million in additional funding.
“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t have more social housing on the site,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “The financial realities are forcing us to scale back somewhat.”
Vancouver has already committed $32 million in funding, most from the $30 million VANOC paid the city to build the village. It donated the land, which is valued at $28 million, for free.
The 252-unit social housing component increased to $110 million from an estimated $64 million in 2006.
The city blames the inflated costs on the large unit size and common areas, environmental design, short timeline, and a hot construction market.
The city says the 50/50 split meets a “mixed-income model” of affordable housing and is in line with its social-housing goal of 20 per cent.
