Kelowna parking lot up for development courtesy of BC Builds project

A parcel of downtown Kelowna, B.C., land could soon be home to a new selection of rental homes courtesy of the province’s BC Builds program.

The parking lot at 1428 St. Paul Street is one of eight properties across B.C. the provincial government said would be fast-tracked for more rental home builds for middle-income residents.

“Our communities and our economy depend on middle-income people like teachers, nurses and construction workers, and they depend on being able to find a decent place to live within their budget,”  Premier David Eby said.

“By bringing together public landowners and housing developers and operators through BC Builds, we are transforming underused public land throughout the province into thousands of lower-cost, middle-income rental homes.”

Launched in February 2024, BC Builds delivers more homes middle-income earners can afford through low-interest financing, grant funding, and leveraging government-, community- and non-profit-owned and underused land.

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BC Builds is seeking proposals to connect residential developers and housing operators to the landowners of these pre-zoned sites through a new online platform on the BC Builds website.

By providing pre-zoned land, low-cost financing, and grant funding, these sites will be developed into homes people and families with middle incomes living and working in that community can afford. All BC Builds projects have a target of households with middle incomes spending no more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.

Once a developer and housing operator are identified, the BC Builds model will turn the identified sites from concept to construction in 12-18 months, rather than the typical three to five years.

This acceleration, according to the province, is accomplished by streamlining municipal development processes and having the BC Builds team working collaboratively with landowners, local governments, and residential developers to remove any barriers.

In addition to the Kelowna property, other BC Builds lots include:

• City of Kamloops, 377 Tranquille Rd.
• District of Elkford, 421 Boivin Rd.
• District of Sooke, 6671 Wadams Way
• Municipality of North Cowichan, 9800 Willow St. (Chemainus)
• Township of Langley, 20230-72B Ave.
• Township of Langley, 27200 Block of Fraser Hwy.
• Township of Langley, 7883-199 St.