Nelson Landing will begin pre-selling eight units in its first phase this fall, with a view to starting construction in the spring if enough units sell.
The units will start at $
529,000 for two-bedroom units, according to Allard Ockeloen of Storm Mountain Developments, the property’s owner and developer. This is a 25 per cent increase over the selling prices announced a year ago.
The reason for the increase, Ockeloen says, is a rise in building construction costs in Nelson as well as an increase in the size of the units as a result of an interior re-design.
Nelson Landing is a mixed commercial-residential development of 265 housing units proposed to be build by the Storm Mountain Development Corporation on the old Kootenay Forest Products site on the shore of Kootenay Lake. The development will be phased in over ten years, and if 40 housing units have been built by then, the phase-in period will be extended to 20 years. The drawing of the first phase, above, was provided by the developer.
Waterfront path, Red Sands, and affordable housing
Storm Mountain has has gained some points with the public and city council for its contribution of land to allow Nelson’s waterfront pathway to continue through to Red Sands Beach, and the contribution of the beach itself as a city park.
It is also contributing $500 per unit to the city’s affordable housing fund. That amount was raised from $250 recently after Nelson CARES executive director Jenny Robinson spoke at a public hearing and asked the developer to raise the contribution to $1,000 on the grounds that Nelson is in an affordable housing crisis.
“Jenny Robinson, speaking at the public hearing in August reminded me that we had not stepped up high enough in relation to our affordable housing contribution,” Ockeloen told the Star by email.
“This was the most significant single concern I took away from that council meeting. I called her after the meeting and confirmed that we would double our contribution to $500 per unit.”
Robinson says she told Ockeloen the community can never raise enough money for housing through such contributions but “the pot helps us leverage money from other non-profits or from BC Housing. I am grateful that this developer is open to the community and listening to us.”
The amount a developer contributes to the city’s affordable housing fund is decided by negotiations between the city and the developer.