435 Cherry Ave in Kamloops (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

CHERRY AVENUE HOUSING

Appraised value of 435 Cherry apartment block north of $10-million: housing minister

Apr 11, 2023 | 4:25 PM

KAMLOOPS — Last week, B.C. Housing announced it is buying a Kamloops North Shore apartment building in order to secure more affordable housing. In a news release, the province says it has purchased the 42-unit apartment block at 435 Cherry Avenue, a building that has been vacant since a fire in 2021.

While not the same as an appraised value, the property at 435 Cherry was assessed at $4.2 million this year, more than three times less than the B.C. government’s $12.8 million purchase price.

“When you see three times over assessed value and — let’s be generous and say twice over appraised value — it has a real impact in terms of the ability to provide even more housing in the community because B.C. Housing has now got that much less money to work with. But also what does it do to land value in the area?” questioned Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar.

But Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon explained that the purchase price was based off an appraisal of the property, which valued it north of $10 million.

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“This one was appraised at $10.4 million. In fact, when they did the appraisal, they didn’t even include costs such as investments made to upgrade the units, the value of redevelopment on the site, all those things and as well the closing costs and all the costs associated with it. That’s how we got to $12 million,” Kahlon told CFJC News.

The building, which has sat empty since a fire in 2021 damaged nine units, also needs extensive renovations to bring the apartment back up to code, a process that B.C. Housing says will take six months.

“This building was close to being condemned not that long ago, then it had a fire. To try and suggest that $550,000 is what it’s going to cost to renovate and fix it is laughable in the extreme. But again, lack of transparency by B.C. Housing on any of this type of housing,” said Milobar.

“They have been actually doing a lot of work on that site,” stated Kahlon. “New drywall, new wiring, lots of maintenance work. All that work was in fact in progress when we purchased this building and those investments have been made. We will be making some additional investments to the building to make sure it’s up to the standard we want.”

The renovation and improvement budget is $550,000.

The minister was able to confirm that the units will be subsidized and made available for those who need them most in the community, such as low-income families. While that answered one of Milobar’s questions, he is still searching for clarity from B.C. Housing.

“That’s why this is so frustrating — the total lack of transparency from B.C. Housing while still paying a premium for a property simply doesn’t make any sense,” said Milobar.

Milobar agreed that this type of housing is needed in Kamloops, but again called on the NDP government to release the full audit of B.C. Housing that was completed earlier this year to the public.