Photo: Nicholas Johansen
Two units have been put up for sale in the supporting McCurdy Place housing estate.
After two units were put up for sale in a new supportive housing development in Rutland earlier this month, BC Housing is now looking to buy them.
McCurdy Place opened its 49 housing units to some of Kelowna’s most vulnerable people last month, 21 months after the council approved the supportive housing development.
The development was funded by the provincial government through BC Housing, which was built by Culos Development, and supporting housing is operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association in Kelowna.
The land on the corner of McCurdy and Rutland Streets used to belong to the Knights of Columbus, but is now owned by Culos, the developer of the project.
As part of the deal, BC Housing bought 49 units of the building in February this year, but oddly enough, two of the building’s units remained in the hands of the developer.
Earlier this month, Culos units 102 and 104 went on sale for $ 349,500 and $ 332,900, respectively. The listings made no mention of the one bedroom condos being in a supportive housing development, but did state that “these condos were designed to the highest standards for BC Housing.”
Neither BC Housing nor Culos would say why the two units were not included in the original BC Housing plan, but the provincial council is now trying to buy them.
“BC Housing is reviewing the purchase of these two units and has started discussions with the developer,” BC Housing’s Samantha Cacnio told Castanet.
“They are not part of the supporting residential building and are accessible via a separate entrance.
“BC Housing only bought the 49 supporting housing units from the developer, not the land. BC Housing did not receive a discount on the purchase of these units.”
At the start of construction of the development, BC Housing said the Knights of Columbus would own two residential units in the new building, but it’s not clear if these are the two units that Culos put up for sale.
The development met with serious resistance from Rutland residents when it was first announced, and more than 14,000 people signed a petition against the construction.
As a result, the housing estate has been changed from allowing on-site drug use to recreational-based housing, and the development now offers more mental health and substance use support than others.
The rooms at McCurdy Place are partially subsidized by BC Housing. Residents pay $ 375 per month, including two meals a day and access to the many on-site support services.
The province is providing CMHA with an annual operating grant of $ 1.4 million to carry out the development.
