City buying Knights Inn, BC Housing will continue to lease the property

The City of Prince George has entered into an agreement to purchase the Knights Inn Motel located at 650 Dominion Street.

The City says it’s being purchased for $4.15 million, with a completion date of March 14th, 2024.

BC Housing currently leases the property, and intends to continue to do so after the completion date, with a proposed new two-year lease agreement in place from March 31st, 2024 to March 30th 2026.

BC Housing will pay $47,250 per month to lease 44 rooms of supportive housing for people living outside or in emergency shelters.

According to the City, BC Housing will also have the option to extend the lease term for an additional six month period beyond March of 2026, and they’ll be responsible for all capital and operational repairs to the property, as well as be responsible for payment of all property taxes and utilities charges.

BC Housing has also opted to contribute an extra fixed fee of $450,000 towards potential future demolition costs, subject to future council decision, instead of covering the costly expenses of restoring the building to its original state, as per standard lease conditions.

The decision to buy the property was made in partnership with BC Housing, who agreed to pay the 24-month lease fees upfront, contributing a total of $1,134,000 to the purchase.

The remainder of the funds used to purchase the property come from the the City’s Endowment Reserve Fund.

“This is a good asset for the City to won as it is right in out Civic Core and we can consider its future use as part of our Civic Core planning which is currently underway,” sad Mayor Simon Yu.

The collaboration between BC Housing and the City of Prince George on the purchase is in line with the HEART and HEARTH Memorandum of Understanding signed by the City and the Province in June.