Increasing vacancy rate in Kelowna best path to improving housing affordability: City

Groundbreaking for a new apartment building which is expected to bring some relief to Kelowna’s tight rental market is scheduled for Wednesday.

The building will be located at the former Building Blocks daycare at Gordon Drive and Lawrence Avenue.

PC Urban Properties and Nicola Wealth Management will start construction this week on a six-storey development offering 192 purpose-built rental units with a 3,800-square-foot secured daycare called Urban Flats.

“PC Urban is committed to providing much-needed rental housing, and this is attainable new housing in an area with a below 0.6 per cent vacancy,” said Shawn Smith, PC Urban’s chief financial officer. “This is the only rental building in Kelowna with a secured, in perpetuity daycare providing convenience to families both living in the new building and those families in the nearby downtown core.”

2:16 Kelowna ranked 10th most expensive in Canada to rent an apartment

James Moore, the City of Kelowna’s housing policy manager, said the project is a step in the right direction for the city when it comes to lowering rental costs and increasing supply.

“The supply of new rental housing is the most significant strategy we can do to address long-term affordability,” Moore said. “Really, the only times we’ve seen rents come down or level off are at periods where we’ve seen high vacancy rates, and that means more supply.”

The project will strictly be a rental building with a secured, long-term childcare centre with 50 spaces.

According to rentals.ca, Kelowna is the 15th most expensive city in the country, with one-bedroom apartments listed at close to $2,000 a month and two-bedroom apartments close to $2,700 per month.

“The key here is to get our vacancy rate to a place where it’s between three and five per cent, and that means we have a balanced market where people have a choice, our prices aren’t increasing,” Moore said.