A developer is hoping the third time’s the charm when it comes to shifting gears from student housing to seniors housing.
At tomorrow’s (Monday) meeting, Prince George City Council will discuss an application to discharge and replace a Section 219 covenant regarding 4500 Ospika Boulevard.
The applicant, Praxis Solutions, is making the application on behalf of the developer to discharge and replace the Section 219 covenant to allow for a 118-unit apartment offering congregate housing intended for independent seniors living.
The developer had initially intended and successfully applied to build 256 units of student housing.
According to the rationale letter attached from Rachael Tremblay of Praxis Solutions, an open house held in October saw feedback from 11 attendees and six email and phone responses that was “overwhelmingly supportive.”
“The 2021 Housing Needs Report for Prince George identifies a critical and growing need for seniors’ housing due to the city’s aging population,” the letter reads.
“By 2031, the senior population (65+) is projected to reach 16,632, requiring an additional 300 seniors-supported housing units over the next decade to meet this demand.”
The letter also states the original student housing proposal became financially unfeasible due to external factors, such as the incoming cap on international student study permits.
The developer, The Hub Collection, had previously applied to modify the covenant to build seniors housing instead of student housing twice in 2023, but were unsuccessful both times.
The first time the request came to City Council in February 2023, Council had denied the application, saying they wanted to stick with the original agreement.
The developer came back with the same request in April 2023. At that time, the vote was deferred to the following meeting, with Council saying there was missing information in the request.
When it came back to Council in May, Council denied the application again.
Other items to be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting include a year-in-review report from the RCMP, and choosing the committee for the Citizen’s Recognition Program.
The agenda for tomorrow’s meeting can be found here.
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