Apartment building proposal for Frederick and Hays Cove to be revealed at tonight's Council Session

The wooded area along Hays Cove Avenue at Frederick
could be the next active apartment construction site as 
City Council will hear tonight

The City's ongoing quest for more affordable housing will gain one more proposal at tonight's Prince Rupert City Council session, that as Planning Manager Myfannwy Pope, outlines the scope of a 35 unit, four storey apartment complex proposed for the corner of Frederick Street and Hays Cove Avenue.

A multi family building proposed by the City under its Rapid Housing initiative program to serve those in severe housing need, with a focus on serving women, or women and their children.

In her Report, Ms. Pope will explain how the City worked with contractors at no cost to develop designs, budget, and plans for this development on City owned property that would be funded in full under the Rapid Housing Initiative funding through Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. 

The report ovserves how the location offered a site that would not require any rezoning to allow the proposed density, and allows the City to provide land in order to score higher on the application criteria for funding. The designs included providing for only 28 parking stalls to serve 34 units, as well as a taller building to accommodate density without needing to add significant extra cost for earth works

In her Report, which is the first confirmed mention for the community of the plans for housing at the location, Ms. Pope also explains that the City will know whether the application will receive funding at the beginning of July, but if successful will be required to reach occupancy within 18 months. 

Consequently, the City is seeking permits ahead of July so that contractors may begin land clearing and construction immediately after funding is confirmed. 

The report does not outline how may tenants are anticipated to call the apartment complex home, though it does observe that the proposal would serve to meet the need of 1 - 4 bedroom apartments in the community. 

The full four pages of the report below outline how the city views any potential impacts from the build, as well as how it fits into Development guidelines and the City's strategic Plan.

The full report along with its associated visuals and documentation is available from the City's Agenda Package for tonight's Council session, staring on page 137.

Tonight's Council meeting starts at 7PM, you can review more background towards what's on tap for the night from our Council Archive page.

If approved to move forward by Council, the Hays Cove project would be the second significant apartment project approved for the East side of the City in the last few years. 

In 2021, City Council approved a project led by Lax Kw'alaams for a 70 unit apartment complex on 11th Avenue East, that project has seen some delays and has yet to get much beyond the land clearing assessment phase.

More notes on housing themes in Prince Rupert can be reviewed from our archive page.

Further items of interest from tonight's Council Session can be reviewed here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.