New affordable housing project proposed for Front Street beside NDCC
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A new affordable accommodation project is being proposed for the regional district property adjacent to the Nelson and District Community Complex, with funding now being sought.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) board of directors approved a letter of support for the project on Aug. 15 — with the understanding that needs an assessment/feasibility analysis work must be completed as the project progresses — after ensuring development on RDCK-owned land aligned with community need and was grounded in “solid reasoning.”
Called the Front Street Affordable Housing Project, it first took shape in Fall 2023 in response to the BC Housing call for affordable housing development proposals. Nelson Cares Society (Nelson Cares) and Share Housing participated in a series of meetings — facilitated by the Nelson Area Economic Development Partnership — to advance local projects.
After identifying possible locations for affordable housing — The City of Nelson owns five vacant lots at the corner of Front Street and Cedar Street — Nelson Cares made it known it was particularly interested in these lots which have a combined area of 0.26 acres.
In June, the City passed a resolution to provide $5,000 in financial support from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund to Nelson Cares to support a “pre-feasibility study of 818 to 824 Front Street subject to the application being supported by the Housing committee and in consultation and support from the Recreation 5 commission.
The RDCK owns the land that the NDCC is located on — the total lot size is 3.76 acres — but there is an undeveloped portion of RDCK land adjacent to the City of Nelson lots, approximately 0.13 acres, which was of interest to Nelson Cares.
In June, conversations were initiated about a potential collaborative housing and recreational development that would combine the land into an approximately 0.39-acre parcel. One month later the Rec. 5 Commission passed a recommendation to support, in principle, the pre-development to determine the feasibility of a potential workforce/below market housing project.
In the details
The potential project concept design includes recreation amenities complimentary to the NDCC.
Currently, the design includes a 5,550-7,000 square foot space that could be designed for a variety of recreation purposes.
The potential project utilizes 0.26 acres of City-owned land and approximately 0.13 acres of RDCK-owned land which would need to be assembled into a single 0.39 acre parcel by means of subdivision.
The amount of floor space allotted for recreation purposes in the proposed project plan is approximately 10 per cent of the overall floor space. The space built for recreation would require the RDCK to lease the space from Nelson Cares.
Population to be served
Individuals with disabilities, as well as low-income adults and families (including single-parents) and individuals in transition from homelessness would be the target population for the project.
The building would connect to the existing Nelson and District Community Centre building and include recreation program space.
A maximum of 30 per cent of the total building area will be non-residential, with non-residential use including recreation and tenant amenity spaces.
The building could be up to six-storeys, with parking provided at the ground level and no underground parking if possible.
The unit typologies would include studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom with the majority of units being one bedroom.
