Owners of high-priced apartments at the Olympic Village will soon be getting new neighbours who would otherwise be homeless and without services to treat mental health and addictions issues.

The $38-million development at 215 West Second Ave. will be 11 storeys tall and contain 147 studio and one-bedroom apartments for homeless people and those in danger of becoming homeless.

When completed, the building is expected to open in early 2013. It will be located a few blocks west of the Olympic Village and across from a Mitsubishi dealership. "As is often the case when a new neighbour moves in to a community, people wonder: What kind of building are they putting up? Will we like the look of it? Who will be moving in? Will we get along with them?" said Jennifer Newman of RainCity Housing, which will provide services for tenants with mental health and addictions issues. "It's challenging becoming a new neighbour sometimes, and it's even more challenging becoming a good neighbour."

Newman said the same questions were asked when RainCity began operating a similar complex in the Fraser and 41st neighbourhood a few years ago.

She said the housing society listened to concerns of neighbours and businesses and slowly began to fit into the neighbourhood. Tenants are now assisting neighbours with gardening, she added.

"[One neighbour] made her backyard bloom with the assistance of a RainCity tenant," Newman said. "That's when we knew we had settled in. We were part of a community and we belonged."

The Katherine Sanford Housing Society will manage the West Second Avenue building, which is the largest of 20 projects the society has undertaken since it began in 1989.

Monday's unveiling of the housing complex is the eighth of 14 sites being developed under a partnership with the provincial government, the city and the Streetohome Foundation, whose directors include mining and movie mogul Frank Giustra and former premier Mike Harcourt.

"This is great, this is a great momentum builder but we still have lots to do to make sure that the people who live on the streets, the marginalized, have a sense of hope," said Dick Vollet, president and CEO of Streetohome Foundation.

The cost of the 14 projects is more than $330 million, with the city contributing $64 million in the cost of the land and $20 million from the Streetohome Foundation.

The first of the 14 buildings, a six-storey complex on Station Street near Main and Terminal, opened in January. When all 14 buildings are built and opened, they will provide 1,575 units of supportive housing.

Mayor Gregor Robertson praised Rich Coleman, the provincial minister responsible for housing, for his commitment to new housing in Vancouver and across the province. "We can build lots of sites here but unless we have this comprehensive effort by the B.C. government, led by Minister Coleman, we cannot solve homelessness in B.C.," the mayor said. "So your work around the province is to be lauded."

The 2011 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count preliminary report released in May broke down Vancouver's homeless numbers this way: 145 on the streets, 1,362 in shelters, 98 of no fixed address (in hospitals, detox centres or police departments on the day of the count) for a total of 1,605 homeless people in the city.

mhowell@vancourier.com

Twitter: @Howellings