Through conversations with Sechelt, it became clear to Westcor Lands Ltd, that Sechelt has a need for family town homes and single family was not going to be supported. This was a change from the old and now outdated, but still in place OCP for the land. Times have changed in Canada, housing at affordable prices for families is in short supply from Coast to Coast, including Sechelt. The costs associated with new construction continues to rise. New single family homes seem unattainable for many families. Westcor is here to support through good design and quality construction the goals of the Sechelt community; whether it be: single family, ownership multi family or rental multi family. Our design for the townhome portion of our land takes into account the cost of land, the cost of building and the goal to sell these homes cost effectively (affordable) for families.
As you know, 2020 has brought on many changes throughout the world. Sechelt has been no exception to the pandemic and is currently struggling to house essential workers transferring in to serve us. A solution to this problem would be to supply lower cost multi family homes throughout Sechelt. Westcor has initiated plans for a 44 lot development on MIlls road. Our hope is through the rezoning of this land we can be a part of the solution to essential workers wanting to transfer in to work, and being able to find homes to live in. Westcor will complete four beautiful single family homes with secondary suite potential within close proximity to waterfront. As well as multi family on the one hectare block in the Center of our Lands.
Affordable housing not only assists the Sechelt community, but also efforts to house the Journey Home Community. Journey Home settles new Canadians in communities through the Government of Canada refugee program. Sechelt organizations will have a big part in supporting these new Canadian families. Journey Home Community welcomes refugees families seeking asylum from persecution and danger. Arriving refugee claimants (asylum seekers) can become homeless, living in poverty. Join us in providing housing, relationships and settlement support. Westcor will help with this and other similar organizations for Sechelt because the contribution to the community of Sechelt will be enhanced with the arrival of these hard working families. We can only imagine the feeling they will have when they arrive in this Paradise from some of the more difficult parts of the world. Journey home is well placed to get the right families settled into the community of Sechelt. Westcor, under this proposal is linking eight homes to Journey Home possibly through B.C. Housing.
Sechelt is very unique in that only 17% of it’s housing stock is multi family. This means if a senior, possibly finding themselves alone in their single family home, probably can not find a multi family home to downsize to. It means about 30% or more of Sechelt homes have one occupant either by choice or by no choice available. By providing additional multi family housing stock, more choice will be available and more older homes will free up for families. Although we are building these homes for families, our experience is not only families will buy these homes. Some new owners will be downsizing from their single family homes in Sechelt. New development greatly benefits any city, Sechelt is not exception to this. The greatest benefit is they get to look after the housing needs of their citizens.
This is why Westcor supports multi family on this site. It made sense when Sechelt asked to redirect to provide families homes they will be able to afford. Our hope is the community embraces what Westcor sees as part of the solution to the housing need in Sechelt. Westcor is ready to provide more housing for Sechelt. We currently have civil services being installed for 5 more homes on Apple Orchard. We have five homes on the recently completed Burdett lots west of Mills. We have four lots across Mills on the lower portion of the Mills land. We also are working on land for family and senior rental homes. We are Registered Residential Builders in British Columbia with a stellar top rated record with our warranty provider. We look forward to serving Sechelt with more housing options.
Westcor Lands Ltd is looking forward hearing from the community so we can refine our plans for the 44 lot development on the est side of Mills Road, Sechelt. We bring quality constructed homes to the Sechelt market. Our show home at the corner of Mills and Burdett shows the quality of material and construction our group has done for almost 40 years. You are welcome to visit and see what we do differently and how we finish our homes. Our hope is we can build this much needed housing as we were requested to do.