• The former Remand Centre at the corner of Powell and Gore streets has been completely renovated to provide new homes for low-income adults and at-risk Aboriginal youth.
• The building offers 96 units of affordable rental housing, including:
  • 38 units for youth participating in the BladeRunners’ entry-level construction program, which will be contained in two floors of housing for Aboriginal youth, known as BladeRunners Place.
  • 42 units that give priority to people already working and/or living in the Downtown Eastside, and earning between $26,000 and $40,000 per year;
  • 16 units for women transitioning out of The Bloom Group’s emergency housing and the YWCA‘s Crabtree Corner. These are women who face homelessness, mental-health challenges and/or addictions.
• The Government of B.C. contributed $16.6 million toward this redevelopment.
• The City of Vancouver provided a $2-million grant and $890,578 in waived development cost charges.
• The Bloom Group will manage and operate the development in partnership with BladeRunners.
• A tenant support worker from BladeRunners will provide support to the 38 BladeRunners tenants.
• Some of the youth who participated in the BladeRunners entry-level construction program helped renovate the building and will also live there.
• Rents in the building will range from $375 to $850, and the apartments are between 30 and 52 square metres (320 and 560 square feet).
• People will begin moving in mid-August and the building will be fully tenanted by the end of October.
• The property also includes a community garden and a multi-purpose amenity space.
• The former Remand Centre building, located at 250 Powell St., was originally built in 1981 and closed in 2002.
• Since 2001, the B.C. government has invested $4.4 billion to provide affordable housing for low-income individuals, seniors and families. This year, more than 102,000 B.C. households will benefit from provincial social housing programs and services.
• Last year, the B.C. government invested over $112 million to provide subsidized housing and rent supplements for more than 26,000 Vancouver households. For more information about provincial housing investments in Vancouver, visit: www.housingmattersbc.ca/docs/fs_Community-Vancouver.pdf

(flickr.com)

Learn More:

BladeRunners: www.accessfutures.com/bladerunners

The Bloom Group: www.thebloomgroup.org

YWCA’s Crabtree Corner: http://ywcavan.org/programs/crabtree-corner