A new affordable-housing complex is coming to one corner of Whalley, across the street from Kwantlen Park Secondary, and it involves a move for Sunshine Housing Co-op tenants.
A “Notice of Intention to Lease City Lands” posted on the city’s website shows plans for a six-storey, 69-unit apartment building designed for affordable housing, on vacant lots at 13219 and 13229 104th Avenue, Surrey.
Construction of the new Sunshine Housing Co-op building involves a 60-year lease and “nominal rent of ten dollars,” according to the webpost.
More project details are included in a report to city council last December, on surrey.ca.
The Sunshine co-op, currently located about four blocks from the site, at 10744 133rd St., consists of 39 membership households living in one- to three-bedroom townhouse units.
“Most of the households are comprised of low-income families, seniors, or individuals on disability insurance. The lease on the property is due to expire in 2023, and therefore, the (104th Avenue property) have been secured as a site for the relocation of the existing Co-op.”
The report adds: “A housing co-operative is a type of non-profit housing that does not have tenants and landlords. Instead, by living in a co-op, each resident becomes a member and share voting rights, as well as the responsibility of managing the site.”
The 69 new units “will be first offered to the current residents of the nearby Sunshine Housing Co-operative. The remaining units will be offered to those that meet the criteria for obtaining affordable housing.”
The project should be ready for occupancy by summer 2023.
On the 104th Avenue site a few years ago, crews demolished a house built in 1948. The structure was deemed in poor condition and was subsequently removed from the city’s heritage inventory, which is “a list of properties and features that potentially have heritage significance but require further evaluation before being considered by Council for addition to the City’s heritage register,” according to the city report.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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