A proposed development that would provide affordable housing for low-income seniors will be discussed by Nanaimo city council on Monday.
The Woodgrove Senior Citizens Housing Society has submitted a development permit application for two five-storey rental apartment buildings at 1125 Seafield Cres., near Beaufort Park. If realized, the two units would provide 124 units of affordable housing to seniors.
Designed by D-Architecture, the two buildings — described as Building A and Building B — would each have 62 units inside them that would be intended for seniors with low to moderate-income seniors.
Building A would have 54 one-bedroom units and eight two-bedroom units while Building B would have 53 one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom units. Meanwhile, 20 units are planned as accessible units.
Residential units would range from roughly 560 square feet to 732 square feet in size and most of them would have a patio or deck area that is about 50 square feet.
Nanaimo city councillors will vote on the proposed development at their upcoming meeting on Monday, July 6, as Woodgrove Senior Citizens Housing Society has requested parking reductions and increases to building height.
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According to planning documents available on the City of Nanaimo’s website, Building A would be 16 metres tall and Building B would be 16.6 metres tall, both exceeding the maximum building height allowed by roughly two metres.
The overall development would have a total of 126 parking stalls, some of which would be underground. However, existing city bylaws require the development to provide a minimum of 137 parking stalls.
An existing building with 25 units that belongs to the Woodgrove Senior Citizens Housing Society would remain on the property while another two-story building on the property would be demolished in order to make way for the two new buildings.
An amenity room and laundry room would be provided on each floor in both buildings and the development would have a “rain garden” according to planning documents.
The entire development is being funded by BC Housing, according to the Woodgrove Senior Citizens Housing Society.
Once completed, the housing complex would be located less than 500 metres away from the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
Nicholas Pescod
