The proposed First Avenue Integrated Health and Housing Development has officially been given the ‘go-ahead’ by Prince George city council.
At its regular public meeting last night (June 29), council unanimously approved the final reading and adoption of the Official Community Plan and zoning amendments needed in order to move the project forward.
The project will see BC Housing, the City of Prince George, and Northern Health all collaborate on an innovative project to provide new affordable housing and health-care services under one roof for people experiences homelessness, mental health and addiction issues.
The development, which would be a first of its kind for northern B.C., will be located on First Avenue at the current location of NR Motors.
The first phase would include approximately 50 supportive homes for people experiencing homelessness and a second phase would include 50 affordable rental homes for low-to-moderate-income individuals and families.
BC Housing would also provide 24/7 staffing along with a meal program and the project includes a ground floor healthcare space to be accessible to both residents and the public.
Before council voted on the final reading for the amendments, Coun. Brian Skakun asked city administration what the province’s timeline is to get this project up and running.
“We are working with the province, and we are expecting some construction to occur on this site hopefully later this year,” said General Manager of Planning Ian Wells.
“With the COVID pandemic it’s an issue and with the overdose issues we are facing right now, it’s a pressure point to move this forward so we may see some construction of a foundation happening this year.”
This past May, B.C. saw its highest monthly totals of illicit drug overdose deaths ever recorded in a single month with 170 deaths occurring throughout the province.
Six of those deaths were in Prince George. Northern Health still has the highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths in all of B.C.
“We have been working on this for two-and-a-half years,” said Mayor Lyn Hall, thanking the city manager and the development services department for their hard work.
“Our last meeting was just a few days ago to get this over the finished line. This one of those key components we talked about — For downtown integrated health services to help us and for folks who are on the street with mental illness or drug addiction — it’s a big deal. I think that when we talk about development downtown it parallels some of the things we are seeing with residential development and business development.”
The project has also been the subject of two public information sessions and a hearing before the zoning and OCP amendments were officially adopted.
City Manager Kathleen Soltis has previously stated the NR Motors location was one of the only sites available that was large enough to accommodate the two phases of the project along with the space needed for the additional health supports.
You can also find out more info through BC Housing’s official project website.
