City faces choice of cutting its commitments or raising another $77 million
Kelly Sinoski, with files from Miro Cernetig
Sun
The cost of social housing at the Olympic Athletes’ Village has risen dramatically, from $65 million to $110 million, raising fears about the city’s ability to live up to its promises to build the units.
A staff report going before city council today estimates the city would have to invest a further $77 million to provide the 252 units of affordable housing it had committed to.
Council has already committed $32 million to the project.
The cost overrun, the latest in a series of financial woes for the Olympic village, means Vancouver‘s cash-strapped city hall will either have to invest the additional dollars in the village, or reduce its promise to put 20-per-cent social housing in the $1-billion development.
In 2007, it approved an interim increase to $95 million, the report said.
Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said the city will now likely struggle to live up to its promise and the public’s expectation to provide affordable housing as part of the village plan.
He noted the amount of affordable housing was cut under the Non-Partisan Association-dominated council led by Sam Sullivan.
The question now is how much social housing can be provided and how affordable it’s going to be, he said.
“These are staggering increases,” Meggs said. “I’m just wondering if anyone was paying attention to these costs. We really do need to find out how the city [estimate] fell so short.
“I’m as stunned as I think voters will be when they see this report. How do we achieve affordability and at what cost? If it’s in doubt, that’s a really serious setback.”
The news will be a major challenge to Mayor Gregor Robertson, who campaigned on creating more affordable and social housing in his three-year term.
Now, just two months into the job, he faces the possibility of cutting back social housing at the Olympic village or finding money to pay for it.
NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton said the city is committed to building the social housing, but notes the challenge is that “the costs are so high. These are very expensive units.”
She noted that when her council cut the number of units, it was “pilloried.”
“We cut back some social housing because we couldn’t afford it,” she said. “It would be wrong to cut back on this but we have to go find some more money.”
The report suggests the development design, increased floor space, and escalating costs in Vancouver‘s construction market all contributed to the rising costs.
But Janice Abbott, executive director of the Atira Women’s Resource Society, said the city can’t afford to abandon the social housing project or reduce it.
“They need to find a way to maintain the social housing, regardless of cost; they’re going to have to work with the provincial and federal governments,” she said. “We don’t have enough non-market housing in the city.
“This promise was made to all of us in Vancouver.”
Abbott said she finds it surprising that city officials are just now raising the alarm over the costs. “Somebody should have known,” she said.
Meggs said the public should be consulted.
“We may have to go back to the public and get advice on how to solve this problem,” Meggs said. “We want to have affordable housing; not just there but across the city.”
Under the development deal, the city is responsible for financing any extra costs to the social housing. Over the last year, city council has repeatedly signed off on those extra costs but the new report now presents a tally.
The social housing cost overrun is in addition to $125 million in extra construction costs already reported in building the market condos in the Olympic development.
Costs for a community centre in the village have also risen from $28.5 million to $35 million, the report said.
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