B.C. Housing buys fire-damaged Kamloops apartment building for $13M

B.C. Housing has purchased a North Kamloops apartment building for $13 million roughly two years after a fire forced out its residents.

The province is aiming to cater the building at 435 Cherry Avenue for low-income residents once renovations are finished in roughly six months, according to a B.C Housing news release. The ministry doesn't say how much the renovations will cost.

The province says the apartment building would have "otherwise been redeveloped and converted to for-profit housing."

B.C. Assessment valued the three-storey apartment at $4.2 million last summer.

“To succeed in life, people need a place to call home, and we are making sure that more people in Kamloops have that today with this purchase,” Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in the release.

A fire in January 2021 forced residents from the building. Three suites were directly damaged by the blaze, but it's not clear how many other suites need repairs.

It's also not clear whether any work had started to repair the vacant apartment since the fire.

The 42 suites are a mix of studios and two-bedroom units. B.C. Housing plans to make the renovated homes available for low- and moderate-income families, seniors and individuals, and people living with disabilities.

“Our government will continue to explore creative avenues like this to build on our commitment to increase affordable housing options that meet the needs of people in Kamloops and in communities across British Columbia," Khalon said.

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