In a 5-4 vote, Prince George city council denied a request by Vancouver-based developer The HUB Collection (1268628 BC Ltd) to allow a 118-unit seniors housing complex to be built at 4500 Ospika Blvd.
The developer was seeking council approval to change to a Section 219 restrictive covenant on the land, requiring a student housing complex be built on the site. It was The HUB Collection’s second request to change the covenant on the land, after city council rejected the proposal on Feb. 6.
City council postponed a decision on the issue on April 24, to receive additional information from the developer to make the case for seniors housing at the site, near the intersection of Ospika and Tyner Boulevards.
“It makes a compelling case for seniors housing. (But) we already knew that,” Coun. Ron Polillo said. “In my opinion, nothing has changed from two months ago…. They didn’t make a compelling case that this is a good or ideal location.”
The City of Prince George sold the land to the developer in July 2020, on the condition the developer would build a 256-unit student housing complex on the 5.6-hectare lot. Under a covenant included as part of the agreement, the City of Prince George had the right to purchase the land back for $485,000, if The HUB Collection didn’t meet its obligation to complete framing within 24 months of the purchase.
According to City of Prince George emails and documents obtained by the Citizen through a Freedom of Information request, city director of planning and development Deanna Wasnik signed off on a change to the covenant on Oct. 12, 2021, without city council approval. The revised covenant reduced the requirement for The HUB Collection from framing the building within 24 months, to commence “pouring the foundation.”
A legal document signed by Wasnik and dated May 3, 2022, appears to show the city releasing its option to purchase the land.
City staff did approve a building permit for the foundation and received email confirmation that work on the foundation had began in April 2022, Wasnik said on Monday, but “we did not visit the site to confirm.”
Coun. Brian Skakun said “the city has more than bent over backwards” to help the developer, and the city has lived up to its side of the bargain.
Coun. Kyle Sampson put forward a motion to approve the change from student housing to seniors housing, with the caveat that the original 24-month deadline to complete framing was added back to the covenant. That motion was defeated.
In a rationale letter submitted to city council in April, The HUB Collection managing partner Ashley de Grey Osborn said rising costs have made the original proposal for the site is no longer financially viable.
The initial estimated cost for a 256-unit student housing complex when The HUB Collection started the project in 2020 was $19.5 million, de Grey Osborn wrote. By the first quarter of 2021 that cost has escalated to $31 million and is now estimated at $52 million.
