Photo: 1340 Mount Fee Road – existing building located on Lot 1 in Cheakamus Crossing Phase 2.
Funded by River Run open market lots and latest Whistler Development Corporation employee ownership builds
Whistler Council has allocated approximately $11 million to construct Cheakamus Crossing Phase 2 Lot 2, the next Whistler Develop Corporation rental housing build, from the Cheakamus Crossing Affordable Employee Housing Reserve.
The fund is the result of a provincial land gift, an Olympic legacy which has resulted in the Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood, which blends regular market, rental and ownership-based employee housing in an effort to enable more of Whistler’s employees to live locally.
This is a new funding route for the WDC and required an amendment to the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s Five-Year Financial Plan, which passed through three readings Tuesday.
“Housing is our community’s top priority, and we’re pleased we’ve created this consistent path to continue this valuable work. By borrowing from the reserve, we’ve created a rolling funding model to build this neighbourhood with less financial risk. ,” says Mayor Jack Crompton.
Moving forward, the reserve can be accessed as an initial funding source for employee housing builds and the fund will be replenished with the completion of construction when the units are sold, building coffers which can be drawn on for the next build.
This round will support construction of 78 condominium-style homes or 159 bed units in two buildings. A bed unit is a standardized measurement used in Whistler to estimate the number of people a development might house by assigning set headcounts to unit sizes and varieties.
The first reserve funds will come from the sale of 23 market lots on River Run Road and from the sale of the latest WHA employee housing ownership buildings at 1340 and 1360 Mount Fee Road. There are 100 apartment-style homes in the Mount Fee buildings, or 276 bed units, sold to applicants on the WHA ownership list.
The Five-Year Financial Plan is the organization’s budget document reflecting ongoing efforts to provide quality of service in daily operations and local governance, consistent with the priorities and strategies identified in the Corporate Plan and OCP.
