SOOKE – Construction is underway on a new affordable rental housing project that will provide 170 homes for a wide range of people with varying incomes in Sooke.
Located at 2075 Drennan St. and 6418 Sooke Rd., the combined lots will support a five-storey apartment building with a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes. The project will provide housing for Indigenous peoples, people with low to moderate incomes and people with disabilities.
The project is being built in partnership between the Province, M’akola Housing Society, the federal government and the Capital Regional District (CRD) through the Regional Housing First Program. The provincial and federal governments and the CRD are investing approximately $10.2 million for the project, while the society is contributing approximately $2.3 million. In addition, the Province is contributing an additional $1 million to improve the affordability of the project.
As part of its funding contribution, the Province is purchasing 29 units in the building so they can be reserved and rented to people with low incomes at the shelter rate. The society will own the remaining 141 units, which will be rented below market rates, and will operate all 170 homes.
The building is expected to open in fall 2023.
“Today marks another step forward in supplying affordable housing for Sooke residents. Thank you to the project partners, including the Capital Regional District and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation through the Regional Housing First Program, M’akola Housing, and the Province, for responding to this critical need. I am pleased to see progress on this project and look forward to its opening – welcoming residents to a safe and secure place they can call home,” said Maja Tait, mayor, District of Sooke.
The Regional Housing First Program is an equal partnership agreement between the CRD, the Province through BC Housing and the federal government though the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
