City Councillors: Crowne Pacific Development Corporation

Crowne Pacific Development Corporation: Copyright 2013, according to Times Colonist and Plans are moving forward for the biggest development of new rental accommodation in Courtenay for decades. Crowne Pacific Development Corporation wants to build 94 two- and three-bedroom apartments on four adjacent lots between 3230 and 3280 Cliffe Avenue - land overlooking the estuary on the opposite side of Cliffe to Future Shop. City councillors last night passed first and second readings of the necessary rezoning bylaws to allow the project - to be called Acadia on the Walk - to go forward to a public hearing, to be held at City Hall on Monday, October 21 5 p.m. . Developer Brett Giese said it was a great site that was close to stores, recreational opportunities and public transit. He told council it was his intention to build two four-storey residential blocks, each of 47 self-contained suites and all equipped to high standards, including fitted kitchens with dishwashers and individual laundry appliances in each unit. Suites higher than ground level would all have balconies, many with views over the estuary; and in the landscaped grounds 124 parking stalls would be created to be accessed from the Anfield/Cliffe signaled intersection. Giese said the development of "clean, safe and affordable housing" was modeled on one his company had just completed at Campbell River, and despite its high quality the intention was to offer units at rents in the $900- $1100 a month range. To ensure the apartments remain as rental units, the company was willing to enter into a ten-year legal agreement with the City to guarantee they would only be for rent, and not available for sale. Councillors were unanimous in welcoming the idea of new rental accommodation, although Councillors Doug Hillian and Ronna-Rae Leonard said it would have been even better if there had been some one-bedroom units as well as two and three bedroom apartments. That, they said, would have made at least some smaller units affordable to more people. But Mayor Larry Jangula said he thought the plan was "a great idea, a great concept and something that's really needed." Most existing rental stock in town was 25 or more years old, he added, and he felt the rents being proposed for a brand new development with modern amenities were in the right ballpark. And Coun. Jon Ambler suggested affordability was not simply an issue of rent levels, important though they were. The location of the project meant that people wouldn't need to own a car, because they were within walking, cycling or a bus ride to a host of retail and employment opportunities. Those factors all helped contribute to affordability, he suggested. And Coun. Manno Theos said some people currently living in less expensive rental units might well be in a position - and have the desire - to move up the ladder, creating vacancies in older units helping broaden the availability at different rent levels. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.