Sooke council has approved preliminary plans for an affordable seniors housing complex with an elder and youth community programming facility for Wadams Way in the town centre.

 

 

The mixed-use project, spearheaded by the Sooke Region Communities Health Network (SRCHN), will be comprised of upwards of 76 residences for individuals aged 55-plus, with ground floor activity spaces on the northeast quadrant of a municipally-owned parcel known as Lot A.

 

At a September 14th council meeting, elected officials approved a letter of understanding with SRCHN for the vision, and will await a study conducted by the organization to identify the types and forms of social services for youth and seniors in the Sooke region.

 

“This is another major step forward in developing Lot A [and] providing long overdue essential residential and social services for elders in our community,” said Sooke Mayor Maja Tait.

 

Budgeted to cost $22 million, the four or five-storey project will be funded primarily through the Federal/Provincial Infrastructure grant, BC Housing, and fundraising efforts in the community.

 

Public engagement opportunities will be scheduled once the project is further along in the planning process.

 

Meanwhile, plans to erect a new library in Sooke on an adjacent portion of Lot A have yet to progress towards construction following significant tendering delays.

 

The modern two-storey facility, part of the Vancouver Island Library System, is slated to replace a small branch situated on Anna Marie Road. Construction was initially planned to start in 2019, but delays pushed the start to 2020, although the latest groundbreaking estimate for the third quarter of this year has come and gone.

 

Further north along Wadams Way the Knox Centre, a 42-unit affordable rental project built by the Knox Presbyterian Church, brought much-needed below-market rental homes to Sooke upon its opening in 2019 and represents one of the first development initiatives along Wadams Way, a thoroughfare eyed for significant residential density in the coming years. C

 

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