Cool Aid ready to launch the new Crosstown multi-use housing development

Victoria’s Cool Aid Society is poised to open Crosstown, a $50-million, 154-unit mixed-use building with affordable, market, and supportive housing rental units at 584 Burnside East, near Finlayson.

The slick, new building is a long road from its humble beginnings in 1968 as a hostel for transient youth travelling across the country.

The development—designed by Lowe Hammond Rowe Architects—is part of a $19-billion housing investment by the BC government, which since 2017, has invested in nearly 80K affordable homes provincewide, including more than 3K homes in Victoria.  The housing project, approved by the Victoria council in June 2020 was originally slated to open in late 2022 or early 2023.

Jesse Miller, senior director at TL Housing Solutions—one of the many project partners—explained the delayed completion: “This was one of many projects we started before the pandemic, before the war in Europe and the knock-on effects of inflation and the labour shortage. They were wildly challenging times to be getting into a project and we’re just thankful for the patience and support of our partners.”

Steven Hurst added the demolition of the Tally-Ho sports bar and a fire at the cement supplier Lafarge’s plant on the mainland to the list of contributing factors. As director of real estate development for the project, he explained that his favourite elements in the building are two seismic gaps integrated into the z-shaped structure that will protect the building from damage in an earthquake.

Lots of partners in this project

The project was built with funding from BC Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Ministry of Education and Childcare, the City of Victoria’s housing reserve fund, Infrastructure Canada, Fortis BC, and Island Health.

The province has invested $28.2 million in the project: $10.6 million from the Building BC: Community Housing Fund and $17.6 million from its Building BC: Supportive Housing Fund. The province will also provide $1.8 million for Crosstown’s annual operating budget. The City of Victoria contributed $450K from its Housing Reserve Fund.

The Cool Aid Society held a media open house event and one for the public on Tuesday to unveil the building. The project’s 100 rental housing units comprise studios and up to three-bedroom units. Supportive housing apartments will be rented at a monthly shelter rate of $500. Entry into the complex’s separate 54-unit supportive housing facility will be managed at an office adjacent to the building’s main entrance.

Cool Aid spokesperson Tracey Robertson said the organization is still working with partners to decide how to incorporate harm-reduction practices into Crosstown’s supportive housing site, so details on such a program have yet to be confirmed.

Apartments will be affordable

Of the remaining 80 units, 30 will be rented at market rates: two-bedroom apartments will go for $1,250 up to $2,200, and three-bedroom apartments will list for $1,625 to $3K. The remainder of the units will be subsidized rentals geared to cost no more than 30% of a renter’s monthly income.

The site was developed adjacent to the former Tally-Ho hotel on Douglas, a property purchased by the province for $9.3 million that had been owned and operated by Cool Aid as a supportive housing facility since 2017. That property will be transferred back to the province as part of the project’s financing conditions.

New tenants are hoping to move into Crosstown sometime in February. By March or April, pending discussions with BC Housing, some of the 22 residents of the Tally Ho will have the option of moving into the new supportive housing units. Most of those moving into Crosstown will be residents of the motel and not people “directly from the streets,” Robertson, CoolAid's community engagement manager said during the media tour earlier this week.

Who gets units

Angela Moran, associate director of housing and shelters for Cool Aid, said the organization will select rental tenants for these units who are trauma-informed—they realize the impact of trauma and they understand paths of recovery—or might already be familiar with supportive housing.

When asked how Cool Aid is planning to balance the needs of rental-housing residents with those in supportive housing, Moran said Crosstown’s supportive-housing portion will have a no-guest policy and 24/7 staff-monitored-only access.

Robertson told Capital Daily she’s most excited about how the project integrates housing, health, and other support services into a campus of care in one location.

“It’s life-changing,” she said.

And ... 36 childcare spaces

Roughly 25K square feet of the building is dedicated commercial space, 6K square feet of which is a community health centre. Cool Aid needs an additional $1.5 million to fully equip the centre and fund a range of health services. The development will also provide 36 affordable childcare spaces—to be operated by Beacon Community Services—with $1.4 million in support from Childcare BC’s New Spaces Fund.