Construction crews are expected back on the job shortly to finish building a long delayed affordable housing/church redevelopment project at Brechin United Church on Estevan Rd. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

long delay

Work to finally resume at large affordable housing project on Nanaimo’s Brechin United Church property

Dec 15, 2020 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — Construction of a long-stalled affordable housing initiative and church redevelopment is expected to continue shortly after “significant issues” arose with the previous contractor.

More than 70 affordable rental housing units and a newly constructed place of worship for Brechin United Church are planned in Nanaimo at the corner of Estavan Rd. and Brechin Rd.

The provincial chapter of the United Church of Canada confirmed a new company was hired to manage and complete the project after a bidding process in consultation with BC Housing and a consultant.

“Completion of the 74 units of affordable housing units is expected before the end of 2021,” said Don Evans, property resource team lead with the United Church of Canada’s B.C. Chapter.

Crews are expected back on site by the end of the month, Evans said.

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Construction started in 2018 and was scheduled to be done in January, 2020, according to BC Housing.

Construction was halted months ago due to what Evans alleged were challenges with the prior builder JBR Construction.

“I can’t really go into the details, because its before the courts. We terminated because of a default,” Evans said.

There’s currently more than $3.2 million in liens against the property and a pair of civil lawsuits launched against JBR Construction from their subcontractors.

BC Housing confirmed the United Church is borrowing $32.5 million from its loan facility to finish the project, which is an estimated 60 per cent complete.

Evans said both primary construction contracts for the revamped Brechin United Church site were awarded following a mandated bidding process to access BC Housing loans.

“Its been a major disruption for us, we certainly didn’t want the building sitting for this long period, but we managed to work through this with BC Housing.”

The affordable housing development at the Brechin United Church site is geared toward people with average incomes ranging between $50,000 and $100,000.

ian@nanamonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes