The city has approved a building permit for a 36-unit seniors housing complex downtown.
The project is planned for 1373 Sixth Avenue, above the underground parking lot attached to the Commonwealth Health Centre.
Yellowridge Construction of Port Moody was granted the permit for the four-storey building. According to the permit, the building will be 34,445 sq. feet with a value of approximately $4.88 million.
A spokesman for B.C. Housing confirmed a development is planned for the site which involves multiple levels of government, the nonprofit sector and private industry. However, no other information was available from B.C. Housing as of press time.
The underground parkade is owned and operated by the City of Prince George, however the airspace above it is owned by the Commonwealth Health Corporation. The unusual arrangement was part of a deal between City Hall and Treasure Cove Casino operator John Major.
Major developed the Chances Good Time gaming centre and parkade on the site with City Hall paying $3 million to Major for the 154-stall parking lot.
The gaming centre closed in 2008, less than a year after opening, and was sold to Commonwealth Health in August, 2009. Part of the agreement between Major and the city was that the developer had to build six townhouses on the site by the end of 2009.
Commonwealth Health assumed the responsibility to build the townhouses when it purchased the gaming centre and converted it to a health centre.
Commonwealth Health Corporation president Dan McLaren and Mayor Dan Rogers declined to comment on the project.
However, in April, 2010 McLaren told The Citizen he planned to build a six-storey residential and retail complex on the site.
In April, McLaren said he envisioned up to 60 seniors condominiums and seniors-oriented retail space on the first two floors.
"That could be We Care or Meals on Wheels or an elder college from a post-secondary institution," McLaren said in April.
The plan called for one-and-two-bedroom units, 700 to 800 square feet, with a retail price of $200,000 to $300,000.
To make the project viable, McLaren said the city would need to offer a 30-year property tax abatement for the downtown core. City council contracted a consultant to review the 30-year abatement proposal who advised that the abatement would likely be ineffective in attracting development downtown.
No assisted living or residential care component is planned for the project at this time, according to Northern Health spokeswoman Eryn Collins.
"There may be some federal or provincial involvement in the project, it's not entirely private, but I can say that Northern Health has no role in the project to date," Collins said. "If there were any suites designated assisted living, then we'd be involved in the provision of care. The provision of care to seniors in a facility is the only way Northern Health is involved in seniors housing."
Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond said an official announcement about the project will be coming soon.
"From everyone's perspective, affordable housing is important to the community," Bond said. "I've been told the announcement will be scheduled in the near future."
Yellowridge Construction project manager Tayfun Tur could not be reached for comment as of press time.
