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A housing allocation in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is being expanded from a four-city lot to include a network of fitness and social services.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the proposed progression allocation in the 300 block of East Hastings Street, in what was formerly a Buddhist temple, will be extended following a donation of adjacent land from the charity 625 Powell Street.
The original 2018 plan called for 75 housing units, but foundation director Don McKenzie said the expansion would provide up to 200 other people at risk of homelessness with affordable and supportive housing in a structure of up to eight stories.
Kahlon says the former will commit to networked fitness services.
He says the province, BC Housing and Vancouver Coastal Health will work with the city of Vancouver on an application to rebuild this fall.
The minister said that since March 2023, the government has opened more than 750 new and renovated housing spaces in the Downtown Eastside and 850 new and renovated spaces are underway lately.
“We know that the desires in this specific network are great,” Kahlon said at a news conference Friday on the Downtown Eastside.
“We have SROs (single-occupancy units) that are in good condition and we know we want to move away from SROs. “
The Canadian press