Sun Peaks, British Columbia — Last year, Al Raine, the former mayor of Sun Peaks, noted that a new employee housing project is his farewell note to the British Columbia town. Work has now begun on his legacy project.
CFJC Today reports that the Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality, Sun Peaks Housing Authority, and BC Housing are working on a project that will add employee housing for the community at the ski resort. The six-story building will have 110 rental units. These 110 units will consist of two studio units, 21 one-bedroom units, 77 two-bedroom units, and 10 three-bedroom units. Meranti Developments Ltd., which is based in Sun Peaks, will construct the building.
“It’s exciting for us because our housing authority up until now had been created, but it’s not been really active,” said Rob O’Toole, the mayor of Sun Peaks. “This allows us the opportunity to develop some middle-income housing for residents that want to stay here, make a life here, and raise a family here.”
Residents will pay a maximum of 30% of their income on rent. As part of the agreement between the three parties, Sun Peaks Resort will have 40% of the units available to long-time employees at the ski resort. If they don’t fill those up, it’ll go back into the local rental pool and be available to other employees who work in the Sun Peaks municipality.
“Our workforce is getting larger and larger and we get busier and busier and if you don’t have good housing, then a lot of talented people will eventually move away,” said Mayor O’Toole. “This is an opportunity to retain them and to grow our community from a grassroots kind of stand point.”
Construction recently began on the project. The goal is to complete and open the building for residents in 2026.
Image Credits: Sun Peaks Resort
