Denman Housing Association
3720 East Road, Denman Island, B.C. V0R 1T0 Phone: 250 335 2559
May 18, 2023
Denman Green Update
With title to the Denman Green site located at 1151 Northwest Road secured, rezoning completed, and a water license in hand, we are well positioned to apply for construction funding when the anticipated BC Housing call for proposals occurs this summer. We are working to be ‘shovel ready’. This means that all pre-construction work is completed and we are ready to build once the funding call is made. Shovel ready projects receive funding priority with BC Housing. To this effect we are currently working to complete the design.
The design must be fully developed in order to provide accurate costing of the whole project (buildings including plumbing, electrical, finishing; water and wastewater systems, the photovoltaic array, carports, rainwater storage tanks, parking, pathways, fencing, and landscaping). It’s a lot of detail to source but we have engaged an excellent team of professionals who have experience working with BC Housing and CMHC to help us. If our application for construction funding is successful, we anticipate a construction start in late 2024. Our goal remains an early 2026 occupancy of Denman Green.
The immediate challenge is money. We need funding to finish this pre-construction design work. We have funding applications in to BC Housing and to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and we are cautiously optimistic that one or both of them will come through, but it’s a frustrating wait when there is still so much to do to get us to where we need to be in order to reach that important ‘shovel ready’ status.
We are most grateful to our Area ‘A’ Director, Daniel Arbour, and to the CVRD, for recognizing that affordable housing “is an essential component of the economic
prosperity of communities” and for authorizing a contribution of $100,000 towards this work. We would also like to recognize and appreciate the support of Denman WORKS! for contributing a total of $36,000 over the years. The Denman Community Land Trust Association recently provided a loan of $30,000 that we are grateful for. To date we have received personal donations totaling $82,000 from Denman individuals – thank you!
Community investment is important in developing affordable housing in that it demonstrates tangible community support for a project, something that funders at all
levels want to see. Financial donations remain important and we still need your help.
Please help if you can. You will find a way to donate on our website: https://denmanhousing.ca. You may mail a cheque or make an e-transfer to our Treasurer, Dawn Binnington: binnington.d@gmail.com.
We will keep you informed as we continue forward and, as always, we invite your questions. On our website you will find a lot of pertinent information but you are also
welcome to email or call as well.
Simon Palmer,
Denman Housing Association
denmanaffordablehousing@gmail.com 250 335 2559
