Revelstoke Community Housing Society aims to repurpose modular builds for BC Hydro housing needs

Editor’s note Wednesday, April 22: Story headline has been updated for clarity purposes.

Revelstoke Community Housing Society (RCHS) has the opportunity to reuse two five-year-old modular buildings donated by BC Housing for the proposed Oscar Street development, which will help house BC Hydro employees for the upcoming unit six construction.

If the society’s proposal to use the buildings is approved by Revelstoke city council, it would add over 65 units to Revelstoke’s housing stock, ranging from studio to three-bedroom units.

“It’s a win-win in the sense that Revelstoke’s rental market isn’t affected, BC Hydro has a solution and RCHS really benefits long-term in the ability to create more new affordable housing,” Taha Attiah, RCHS general manager told Revelstoke Mountaineer during a Thursday, April 9 BC Hydro open house. 

The term modular work housing might bring to mind the previous work camps that were built during the construction of BC Hydro projects, but Attiah stressed the two units would fit in Revelstoke’s real-estate market, especially after pitched roofs are installed to help with snow shedding.

“I don’t think in the end, they’re going to look much different than a lot of housing developments that you might be used to,” Attiah said.

BC Hydro has struggled to find housing for the estimated 130 workers expected to work on the unit six installation, with union requirements for single-room, self contained units disqualifying various hotels and multi-room rental units. 

Housing for nearly 100 workers will be needed by March 2027, according to current estimations. 

Project workers can take a living out allowance for alternative accommodations such as multi-room units, but numerous project workers will also only be in Revelstoke for a couple of months, potentially putting more strain on local rental markets, Debra Lamash, BC Hydro stakeholder engagement advisor said.

“We offered an opportunity to the city and RCHS because we need housing. We have to wait and see how that progresses,” she told Revelstoke Mountaineer.

BC Hydro lease key to paying down project costs

Fort Modular Inc., a modular building supplier with an Interior office in Barriere has been refurbishing the units for any damage and wear from previous BC Housing tenants. The units were built to BC Housing guidelines at the time, equivalent to current BC Step Code Three. New AC units, heating units and other features will be installed once the buildings are reconstructed in Revelstoke, giving RCHS a clearer history of the buildings’ amenities.

While the two buildings have been donated by BC Housing, relocation, refurbishment work, utilities for the Oscar Lands plot, city land lease costs, permitting fees and more are all part of the remaining mortgage price tag on the project. During the city council presentation, RCHS estimated nearly $200,000 needed per unit.

According to Attiah many of those costs would be required anyway for future housing work on the Oscar Lands plot, meaning BC Hydro’s lease payments will help pay down more up-front costs before the units are available for Revelstoke’s housing market.

“Partnering with BC Hydro to both mitigate a potential impact to renters and community members that already live here and could be displaced by the increase in rent, was a primary motivator of why we got involved with this. Secondary to that is this is a huge opportunity to build out affordable housing in the community,” he said.

While occupied by Revelstoke Dam unit six installation workers, RCHS will be using part of BC Hydro’s lease payments to build up a reserve to cover costs needed to renovate a majority of the 108 studio units into two and three bedroom units.   

When asked how BC Hydro calculates what it can provide as a down payment, Allison McMillan, BC Hydro Revelstoke dam unit six project manager, explained the calculations are based around the available living allowance budgeted for the project.

“We’re responsible to the rate payers to make sure we’re being prudent and fiscally responsible,” she said.