The Beulah Creek Village application for funding to BC Housing has been SUCCESSFUL!!
On Monday November 12, the Hornby Island Housing Society received word from BC Housing that our project to build rental housing units at Beulah Creek had been approved. Our funding was publicly announced the next day as part of a larger announcement of $492 million in funding for 4,900 units of housing in 42 communities across BC. We can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled and excited we are!!
Why were we successful?
When we pull back and look at the big picture, you can see how much our community had already accomplished on our own. Bernhard and Christa Weiss made it possible for 18 ½ acres of their lovely, well located land to be allocated for affordable housing. They worked hard along with our local Island Trustees and ISLA board members to make this happen. Hats off to Bernhard and Christa! Our community did lots of fund raising as there was much to do. Bernhard had already put in a well, but research needed to be done on many subjects, the land zoned for community housing, riparian areas identified, septic fields defined, roads laid out, and the Village site cleared! Our site was now “shovel ready”. Thanks goes out to the hard work and diligence of ISLA and its past board members and HICEEC which was a strong community partner and advocate, and for the generous support from the Hornby Island Community Fund, CMHC and the CVRD, plus many, many volunteers and broad community support. But there were still hurdles to jump. The infrastructure costs such as power, roads, septic and water systems were going to be huge. Models of owner financed homes, owner plus rental, strata title, and other possibilities were explored. No home-ownership model was found that would be both affordable and still pay for the infrastructure.
In 2017, representatives from BC Housing had a chance to tour the Beulah Creek Village site and they were impressed. The ISLA board was encouraged to prepare a proposal for funding from BC Housing for the development of rental housing. BC Housing only directly funds rental housing, but they have the deep pockets that could help us get past the daunting infrastructure costs. ISLA decided to partner with M’akola Development Services who have wide experience advising on successful rural community housing development. Both M’akola and BC Housing encouraged ISLA and Elder Housing to join forces so that we would have an even stronger team with experience in both creating and maintaining affordable housing. This, too, we accomplished, and in record time. Our application to BC Housing went in under the name of the brand new Hornby Island Housing Society!
What’s next?
We will be working closely with BC Housing and M’akola in the coming weeks to prepare a final agreement and financial plan for funding Beulah Creek Village. Then construction can begin. At the same time, we will be working on developing policies, an application process, and draft rental agreements for our potential tenants. As these details are finalized, we will release this information, along with the number and size of units, rental rates, and a construction and move-in timeline.
I want to live at Beulah Creek!
We are not yet ready to receive applications for housing at Beulah Creek Village. However, if you have email and would like to have news and updates as soon as they are available, please let us know. We will add you to our potential residents contact list. If you are seriously considering applying to live at Beulah Creek, one concrete first step you can take towards getting ready is to file your taxes so you are up to date. Our partnership with BC Housing will mean that filing your taxes can be a necessary step for you to take in the application process. To add your name to the contact list or to find help with completing your taxes please contact Meredith McEvoy at meredith.mcevoy@gmail.com.
Thank you for all your support and we look forward to providing further updates on the progress of the Beulah Creek Village housing development!
