PRINCE RUPERT – With the City of Prince Rupert’s Housing Needs Assessment identifying a projected demand for approximately 4,800 new homes projected to be needed before 2030, the City is continuing to move ahead with actions identified in the Interim Housing Strategy – to act swiftly on available funding opportunities and create the right conditions for housing development.
In the Fall, the City issued a Request for Expressions of Interest to develop a short-list of interested parties in providing community housing development for Prince Rupert. After identifying two potential partners to build the housing, the City has been working with the selected partners on developing proposals for housing to be submitted to the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative grant for full funding. To that end, recently the City issued an additional Request for Expressions of Interest for Housing Providers to operate the housing developments for 40+ years if the funding applications to build the units are successful.
These proposed projects are being considered for lots in the downtown core, and would look to support vulnerable populations, including seniors, a critical need identified in the Housing Needs Assessment. It should be noted, however, that the projects are fully funding dependent, and so will only be able to move forward if selected as part of the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative.
The Request for Expressions of Interest is now posted to BC Bid, and expressions are due by February 13th. Please see the full package online at BC Bid for additional details.
In addition to these two applications for funding for potential non-market housing projects, the City is working towards agreements for land sales for a number of market housing developments – including for a development of up to 300 units in Seal Cove – that would increase overall housing availability for Prince Rupert.
The City is also working with BC Housing to proceed as efficiently as possible with their current housing redevelopment efforts in the Kootenay area.
For the full Housing Needs Assessment, go to our website at: https://princerupert.ca/housing
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