The site at 250 Terminal Ave. is set to be replaced by both supportive and affordable housing, replacing the beleagured temporary housing currently there. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

2020 in review

Top Stories of 2020: Hundreds of supportive housing units announced for Nanaimo, temporary housing sites to close

Dec 23, 2020 | 4:55 PM

NANAIMO — Hundreds of new supportive housing units were announced for Nanaimo after years of calls for more supports.

The province announced in mid-July upwards of 190 supportive housing units and 125 affordable options will be built primarily in south Nanaimo, stretching from 250 Terminal Ave. to 702 Nicol St.

The supportive housing is designed to replace the two hastily-built temporary housing sites brought to Nanaimo when Discontent City closed.

The current site at 250 Terminal Ave., run by Island Crisis Care Society, is slated to become both supportive and affordable housing on one large block of land.

The Island Crisis Care Society’s current facility, at 355 Nicol. St., will transform into supportive housing for roughly 40 people.

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The Society’s executive director Violet Hayes told NanaimoNewsNOW the project will make their longstanding dream of expansion into a reality.

It will run a substantial facility further down the road at 702 Nicol St. The lot is already being cleared and prepared for construction.

The new supportive housing units are designed in line with the Orca House facility, which is run by Island Crisis Care Society in Parksville.

“When we see what’s possible at Orca Place in Parksville, we’re so excited,” Hayes said. “We put a lot of effort into really thinking about the layout of the building and how it would work, the flow, the safety, the security. It’s worked well.”

A City of Nanaimo building on Prideaux St. will become supportive housing after serving its purpose as a temporary shelter.

The affordable housing units will be built at 250 Terminal Ave., 1425 Cranberry Ave. south of Nanaimo and at the corner of Fifth St. and Howard Ave. in the Harewood neighbourhood.

The supportive housing projects are slated to cost around $7 million each, though budgets haven’t yet been confirmed.

Construction isn’t yet underway.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt