PoCo affordable housing project one year behind schedule

It’s on course and on budget, but the five-storey apartment project earmarked for Welcher Avenue is a little off schedule.

Originally set to be finished in the spring of 2024, the recently-renamed Salal Landing project should be ready for occupancy by the end of this year, according to Metro Vancouver media relations manager Maggie Tung.

The project is about 72 percent complete, according to Tung, who added that mechanical, electrical and plumbing work is “well underway.”

“The project has experienced some scheduling delays, but they are being effectively managed within the approved budget,” Tung stated in an email to the Dispatch.

The project is set to offer a mix of affordable units with 30 percent of the apartments earmarked for moderate income households.

For example, a household renting a two-bedroom unit would have to earn between $72,000 and $134,100 annually.

For roughly half of the units, the rent is capped at 30 percent of household income.

Twenty percent of the units are set to be allocated to renters with very low incomes.

Metro Vancouver and B.C. Housing partnered on the project, with Metro Vancouver providing the land and paying some of the cost with the province chipping in $7.9 million.

The province is also contributing $7.9 million toward a five-storey, 63-unit project on Welcher Avenue in Port Coquitlam.

When the project was announced in 2023, Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth described it as a: “great step toward addressing lack of affordable housing for people with low to moderate income in our community.”

When the building opens, potential tenants are judged based on income and household need. More info here.