City of Prince George buying downtown motel for $4.15 million

The City of Prince George has entered into an agreement to purchase the Knights Inn Motel, located at 650 Dominion Street, for $4.15 million. 

The Knights Inn is currently being leased by BC Housing for supportive housing.

BC Housing intends to continue leasing the building after the city purchases the building. The city’s purchase agreement has a completion date of March 14, 2024.

BC Housing will then enter into a new two-year lease agreement in place from March 31, 2024 to March 30, 2026 and will pay $47,250 per month to lease 44 rooms of supportive housing for people living outside or in emergency shelters. 

The city says the decision to purchase the property was made in partnership with BC Housing, who agreed to pay for their 24-month lease fees upfront, contributing a total of $1,134,000 to the purchase.

The remainder of the funds used to purchase this property come from the city’s Endowment Reserve Fund.

The city says the collaboration between BC Housing and the City of Prince George on this purchase is in line with the HEART and HEARTH Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the city and the province in June that formalizes their commitment to work together to better support people in the community who are unhoused.

BC Housing will have the option to extend the Knights Inn lease term for an additional six-month period beyond March of 2026 and it will be responsible for all capital and operational repairs to the property as well as be responsible for payment of all property taxes and utilities charges. 

BC Housing has opted to contribute an extra fixed fee of $450,000 towards potential future demolition costs, subject to a future council decision, instead of covering the costly expenses of restoring the building to its original state, as per standard lease conditions.