Times Chronicle Staff
If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
That’s what Oliver town council is doing as it prepares to look at a revised plan for a new Town Hall/affordable housing project on Main Street.
Director of Development Services Randy Houle is presenting a new plan to council after the first grant application was denied by BC Housing in 2021. That proposal, a partnership between the Town and Kiwanis Housing Society, promoted a mixed-use development on Town-owned lots at 6219, 6225 and 6331 Main Street. This plan consisted of 13 affordable housing units on the top floor with commercial space and a new Town Hall and council chambers on the first floor.
The proposed new town hall and housing project on Main St.
Houle said their grant application was not successful due to an oversubscribed intake of applications in the province. However, Kiwanis Housing received $27,000 in funding that was utilized to prepare a revised proposal. This includes the following: Five-storey building with a floor area of 2,399 square metres, a new Town Hall space (742 square metres), 16 apartments, large outdoor amenity space, and one level of underground parking with 16 parking stalls.
Houle says the total estimated cost of the project is $16.8 million, with $11.5 million for the housing portion and $5.3 million for the Town Hall.
In comparison to the previous proposal, the new design provides three additional residential units and removes the commercial units fronting Main Street. Houle adds there is better separation of the two units and provides a higher level of residential amenity to the town.
Members of council will discuss the revised plan on Monday.
