Jun 19, 2024 – Nick Laba/North Shore News

Homes in a new affordable rental building in North Vancouver are filling fast.

Located a stone’s throw from the bustling Phibbs Exchange transit hub, the recently completed development at 267 Orwell St. has begun to welcome tenants.

The 90-unit Salal Apartments building had been under construction following a proposal process that first went to District of North Vancouver council in June 2020.

At a press event on Wednesday, B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA Bowinn Ma, and DNV Mayor Mike Little were there to speak to the public.

Kahlon lauded the project for its mix of new homes: 20 per cent at “deeply affordable rents” between $375 and $625 per month, 50 per cent where rent is geared to 30 per cent of a tenant’s income, and the remaining 30 per cent at market rates.

There are currently more than 1,300 units of provincially funded affordable housing completed or under development on the North Shore, in addition to 350 student beds coming to Capilano University, Ma said.

“The challenges that brought us to this place where we are faced with a housing crisis … did not develop overnight. It was as a result of many, many different factors. And so it can’t be solved overnight,” she said.

“But the kind of actions that our government is taking in partnership with partners, some of whom you’ve heard from today, are what is going to move the dial we need to continue this work,” Ma said.

Read the full article at nsnews.com.