The Propolis Cooperative Housing Society says it has bought its first property at 422/424 Tranquille Road in North Kamloops for $945,000.
It plans to turn that property at the corner of Tranquille Road and Aspen Street – which is currently home to Hatsuki Sushi and the Effie Arts Collective – into a six-storey mixed-use development with 50 affordable residential units, and about 9,300 square feet of commercial space on the ground level.
Propolis says all residential units will be net-zero using energy produced from renewable sources. It also says all units will operate as non-profit cooperative housing with expectations that it will be priced at 80 per cent of CMHC’s median market rents in Kamloops.
Propolis says over 70 investors helped raised $576,300 though its $1.1 million bond campaign, with the rest of the money coming from a $270,000 loan from the Thrive Impact Fund and a $250,000 loan from the Canadian Co-operative Investment Fund.
“It is humbling to see the rally from community members to support development of more affordable and sustainable spaces in BC,” Propolis President Lindsay Harris said, in a news release. “Their contributions have enabled us to unlock further capital from impact and investment funds, allowing us to make this timely purchase.”
“By nature of a cooperative, we’ll be able to keep rents below market rates for 100% of our units and build a sense of community at a time when residents are being priced out of their homes.”
Harris says Propolis is working to raise the remaining $523,700 through its bond campaign to repay those two loans.
The City of Kamloops has already agreed to close an unused portion of Hilltop Ave. located directly behind the property. Propolis is buying that parcel for $1, 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,” Harris told Radio NL last June.
“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.”
Harris says Propolis is set to being design work on the new building, in partnership with Nexbuild Construction.
It is still expecting that the housing units will be ready by late 2026.