A new program is expected to be applied to a significant redevelopment in downtown Ladysmith. (B.C. government)

By Ian Holmes

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LADYSMITH — A planned new City Hall is expected to be topped with rental housing geared toward middle-income earners in Ladysmith.

The province confirmed this week the Town of Ladysmith is one of 20 local governments and organizations enrolled in BC Builds, which includes lower-cost financing and grants to reduce construction costs.

Mayor Aaron Stone envisions nearly 100 housing units as part of the community’s Buller St. revitalization project.

“As these programs started being unveiled by the province it became quite apparent that there was an opportunity to address some of the housing needs in the community with the administration needs in the community,” Stone told NanaimoNewsNOW.

At least a fifth of the units must be at least 20 per cent below the local market rental rate, according to conditions of the BC Builds program.

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“Some of the units could be between 10 and 30 per cent below market, but we’re still working out the funding mechanisms and the mix before we go forward to the community with the full breadth of the project.”

Stone said this project will be an important step in bolstering the local rental stock, pointing to a 96 unit complex which opened locally a couple years ago and garnered about 400 applicants.

Four properties on Buller St at 1st Ave. were purchased by the Town of Ladysmith in 2015, which includes the existing Ladysmith Museum.

The Town expects to launch an Alternative Approval Process in the coming weeks to borrow $13.5 million for the City Hall portion of the project.

“I would say over the next number of weeks we’ll get more details that we’ll be able to understand both at our Council table as well as in the broader community and we would expect to get shovels in the ground I would think within a year,” Stone said.

Ladysmith’s new City Hall/housing project is slated to be built on Buller St. at 1st Ave. (Town of Ladysmith)

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ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes