The unveiling of 53 new units of affordable senior housing at Little Mountain was met with mixed emotions Thursday.
The City of Vancouver and B.C. Housing, along with developer Holborn Properties and non-profit More Than a Roof, held a ribbon cutting Thursday to mark the opening of Little Mountain's first new social housing building.
The project began in 2007 as an agreement by the city with the provincial government to replace 224 social housing units with a total of 234 new subsidized housing units. The original buildings at the site near Queen Elizabeth Park were demolished and in September 2009 most of the families at Little Mountain were relocated to other social housing.
The redevelopment of the 15-acre site will involve a mix of subsidized and market housing. Proceeds from the sale of Little Mountain property are to be reinvested as supportive housing for people with mental health problems, addiction, and other chronic conditions.
“As we build on Little Mountain, we'll build more in the city with regards to mental health and addictions and changing people's lives,” said Housing Minister Rich Coleman.
Once completed, Little Mountain will have 1,500 units of affordable housing with 10 reserved for the Musqueam Nation.
The new five-storey building, which is being managed by non-profit More Than a Roof, features 47 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom apartments. It includes an amenity room, community garden, patio space, a bicycle and scooter storage room and a weekly, low-cost food program for residents.
Ken and Kathy Moore moved from Abbotsford to live in one of the new units.
“For us to take that extremely long bus ride was not only hard but financially hard,” he told reporters. “I want to thank B.C. Housing and More Than a Roof for changing our lives.”
Vision Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang said the Little Mountain site is “the rebirth of a neighbourhood, the rebirth of an area.”
He added, “I know it's been a long time coming, but we're finally here, and it's finally moving ahead.”
The length of time for development to begin at the site, which was home to a social housing complex for decades before it was demolished, was noted by critics Thursday.
David Chudnovsky, a spokesman for Community Advocates for Little Mountain (CALM), expressed anger at what he calls the displacing of “hundreds” of low-income Little Mountain residents and the fact that they were promised they could move back to the site by the 2010 Olympics.
“They have the nerve to have a celebration, cutting a ribbon on a tiny, tiny, little bit of what they promised was going to be finished in 2010,” he said. “It's craziness.”
Questioned about the delay in having residents returning by 2010, Coleman said, “It didn't work out . . . zoning, development, city hall, whatever the case, it had an effect on the project.”
“We would like to have most of it built by now,” he added. “I believe we're going before city council shortly and that should take us to the next phase.”
Ingrid Steenhuisen, one of the original residents of the original Little Mountain housing complex and a famous holdout against relocation, estimated she’s one of 11 to 13 original Little Mountain tenants who’ve moved into new building. She described living in the new building as “OK.”
“It's large enough to exist,” she said, “but not necessarily be able to live doing some of the same things that I used to do in my larger space.”
