A group of View Royal residents told city council Tuesday they’re worried a proposed housing redevelopment in Portage Inlet will leave them with nowhere to go.
Some people who live in the Christie Point apartment complex, which is home to about 160 rental units, are worried that the proposed project will push them out into an already oversaturated rental market with a vacancy rate of below one per cent.
Toronto-based developer Realstar has plans to add 312 units to the area by increasing density and height of the buildings.
“They’re going to subsidize our moving out but they won’t say where or when or whatever. After that, we’re in the streets of Victoria where nothing is available, but it’s our problem,” one speaker told council Tuesday night.
The project would be built in phases and residents would be given six months’ notice before having to leave, as well as a moving allowance and first right of refusal for the new buildings.
“Realstar does not have a responsibility to take care of the tenants that are being displaced, but I think that our government, our community and our town council does, and I think they have the power to advocate for that,” said Michelle Wright of the group Christie Point Advocates.
View Royal Mayor David Screech says no decisions have been made on the proposal, and it won’t be dealt with by council until February or March, when the municipality holds public hearings on the proposal.
