The District is looking for an organization to share space with in the new youth centre that’s expected to be built as part of the Buckley affordable housing project.
Sea to Sky Community Services will operate and manage the youth hub at the Buckley building, however, they have been reaching out to provincial agencies that also offer youth services about the possibilities of subleasing space in the youth hub, the District’s Christina Moore told The Chief.
“We’re at the point now we’re asking people to make commitments,” said the municipality’s general manager, Gary Buxton at council’s June 11 meeting.
Buxton said that the District will be in talks with the Ministry of Children, the Sea to Sky School District and Vancouver Coastal Health about programming for the youth hub.
“We’re going to be needing a commitment or [memorandum of understanding] that that space will be leased and rented.”
With respect to the Buckley project overall, the District has taken a step back and is letting Sea to Sky Community Services take the lead.
The District says the society will be working with professionals to design and construct the facility.
“They’ve engaged all of the necessary professional consultants,” said Buxton. “Geotechnical, electrical, mechanical, architectural — they’re all on board.”
If all goes according to plan, tenants will be moving into the building in early 2022.
The District will be negotiating a partnering agreement with Sea to Sky Community Services to operate the building once it is complete, and the society will likely be starting a waiting list for the building in mid-2021.
Should everything follow the District’s expected timeline, a development permit will be approved in late summer this year. The municipality would then submit the designs to BC Housing for a final approval, that would have the province provide more cash to help the project along.
A building permit would then be issued in 2020.
In early 2019, BC Housing gave the District an additional $750,000 to fund the project. Previously, BC Housing shelled out $145,000 and CMHC gave $50,000 to advance the project towards implementation and to prepare the grant proposal.
The five-storey facility will be intended for low-to-moderate-income renters. It will have 76 units — composed of 12 studios, 48 one-bedroom units, and 16 two-bedroom units.
It will also include the youth centre on the ground floor, which is intended to replace the aging facility in the skatepark.
The centre’s goal will be to provide recreational, cultural, clinical and wellness service program supports for youth in the community.
