A new non-profit housing group in the Tournament Capital is in the initial planning stages of developing affordable, durable, green homes on Kamloops North Shore.

Propolis Cooperative Housing Society President Lindsay Harris says they are working to address the affordable housing crisis in Kamloops, by offering community bonds, to purchase land for affordable housing.

Harris says planning is underway for a six-storey development located at the corner of Aspen Street and Tranquille Road.

“The first stage is to acquire the property and right now our community bond campaign will position us to raise $1.1 million in capital to purchase the property.”

Kamloops City Council recently approved the sale and lane closure of an unused portion of Hilltop Ave, located directly behind 422/424 Tranquille Rd. This will extend the area available for the affordable housing units.

Propolis will purchase the parcel for $1 from the city, in exchange for an agreement to operate affordable cooperative housing on the site.

“Once we have acquired the property we’ll move on to the pre-development stage, and we’ve conceptualized a 50-unit apartment building on that site, with commercial space on the ground floor where we’re hoping to have space for a new daycare facility and also a redesign space for the Effie Arts Collective.”

Additionally, Harris says the residential units will be net-zero,  using only as much energy as they produce from renewable sources.

Harris says the new building will help meet a huge need for affordable housing in the community.

“We can look at Kamloops and see that we have a really serious housing affordability crisis here like so many other communities across the country, our population growth is outpacing our housing supply and there’s a lot of regular families and households in Kamloops that are just priced out of the market,” explained Harris.

“So we’re looking at that situation and saying we want to come to the table with a solution and we know that the cooperative housing model is a great way of bringing more affordable homes into a community, so that is what we are set out to do.”

The cooperative housing model will be the first of its kind in Canada, with Harris explaining the bonds work to generate a social and financial return by providing low-income housing to members who invest.

“Our investment minimums start as low as $1,000, so it’s really low barrier for anybody who’s in a position to invest with us and you can earn up to 3.5 per cent interest annually over the three-year term of the bond.”

The goal is to move the first members into the unit by 2026.