Senior Housing
AN UPDATE ON SENIORS RESTRICTED HOUSING [2015 06 12]
Overview
During the past year development of one new Seniors Restricted Housing project has commenced at Rainbow. Recent surveys of our membership and the seniors community have confirmed increasing interest and demand for more restricted housing units, including both ownership and rental.
At present there are: 24 restricted housing units at Cheakamus Crossing; zoning for up to 40 units at Rainbow, with 20 of those units now under construction; and a possible third opportunity identified on the Holborn property immediately north of Marketplace, where development by the owner continues to be a low priority.
To date all units are ownership type for ‘independent unassisted living’.
Current Status
For Cheakamus Crossing:
At The Rise there are 6 town-home style units, all 3-BR with covered parking, with all currently owned by seniors. There was one resale over the past year.
At The Falls there are 18 apartment style units, with a mix of 1-BR, 1BR+den, and 2-BR, all with nearby covered and surface parking. At present only 5 of these units are owned by seniors; for a recent resale there were no offers from the seniors community. The remaining units are owned and occupied by eligible Whistler employees.
In order to be informed of seniors purchase opportunities at Cheakamus Crossing, interested seniors need to be registered members of Whistler's Mature Action Community.
A link to the membership page can be found here: http://www.whistlermac.org/join-whistler-mac.html
For Rainbow:
Solana [Lot 11] is a higher end development specially designed for the seniors community. Construction is well underway, with occupancy expected near the end of 2015 or early next year. Solana includes 20 units, all 3-BR ranging in size from about 1200 to 1800 square feet. 19 units were pre-sold by April 2015.
Lot 10, owned by RMOW, is planned for up to 20-units. Units are likely to be more affordable, apartment style with underground parking and sizes varying to suit the demand. Discussions continue with the Whistler Housing Authority [WHA] for implementation of this project, with a possibility of both ownership and rental units.
Lot 9, the commercial area currently under construction, includes 65 apartment style units complete with underground parking. All units are resident restricted and expected to be rental, with some possibly available to Whistler retirees and seniors community.
For Holborn:
Considered longer term, there is a vision and potential for 20 or more apartment style units with underground parking and a seniors activity centre. This location is considered ideal for inclusion of some future ‘assisted living’ units.
>First Sales, Resales and Rentals
On first sale, resales and rentals for all WHA Seniors Restricted Housing units, they will first be offered to eligible members of MAC and the Whistler community who have completed the WHA Seniors Application Form required to be completed at the time a dedicated seniors unit comes available for sale. >The waitlist order of priority is established each time units are available based on a ‘needs based priority points system’.
For more information on both eligibility and the ‘needs based priority points system’, refer to the ’Seniors Restricted Housing Guidelines & Waitlist Policy’ on this website, and also available through the WHA at www.whistlerhousing.ca.
In order to be informed of seniors purchase opportunities interested seniors need to be registered members of Whistler’s Mature Action Community.
>Looking Forward
WHA advise that:
• housing for our seniors and retired workforce will continue to be viewed as an important component of the housing continuum and ‘aging in place’ in our community,
• and we will revisit the demand for seniors housing at Rainbow Lot 10 in the next few years.
in the meantime, we will continue to remind our seniors and retirees that housing opportunities, both rental and ownership, do currently exist within our resident restricted inventory for local seniors to access. More information about the WHA’s Rent and Resale program can be found here:www.whistlerhousing.ca
• and WHA is proceeding with a new project at Cheakamus Crossing in the near future; all units will be rental, which will further help alleviate their rental waitlist that now totals about 350 .
For additional information visit www.whistlerhousing.ca , or contact Allison Winkle at WHA, telephone 604 905 4688 ext 3#, or email allison@whistlerhousing.ca