The Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce has secured preliminary approval from the BC government to develop its six-storey workforce housing project, which was announced in June.
The development will see the housing complex built beside the Nelson Innovation Centre at 91 Baker Street.
The project, which is in its design phase, just received the go-ahead from BC Builds to move forward. BC Builds will be funding a portion of the project through a $19 billion investment, which will also fund a similar project in Fernie.
Nelson-Creston MLA Brittny Anderson announced the partnership between the Chamber and her government during a media briefing Tuesday morning, emphasizing the urgency of workforce housing solutions in Nelson.
“This is workforce housing. This will be for nurses and for teachers and for mechanics and for small business owners, for people that work at Whitewater, for our baristas and people that work at Save-On-Foods, all the people that just make this an awesome place to live. We need this housing for everyone.”
Nelson Chamber president Tom Thomson said there are still some barriers left to knock down as the project moves forward, but he’s pleased with how quickly the vision has become a reality.
“We’re knocking down barriers as we go along. Every month, there’s a few more things to get knocked off. There’s still a few things that have to be completed before we’re 100 per cent in the clear, but we’re moving things so quickly.”
According to Thomson, Nelson is one of the first rural communities to propose such a project.
He didn’t say when the project will break ground but reiterated that BC Builds aims to see these projects go from concept to reality within 18 months.
“We’re about 12 months in, and it’s moving back quickly. So we’re really happy that it’s gone that way. I don’t think that we’re going to have any major issues between now and when we’re actually going to make it around.”
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