Parksville seniors who have called Moilliet Manor home for 20 years are breathing a sigh of relief after the 50-unit apartment building was purchased by a non-profit with funding from the provincial Rental Protection Fund.
The building, located at 211 Moilliet St., had been on the market for the past year, and many of the elderly long-term residents, half of whom are at least 75, had been worried they might have to move if the building was renovated or redeveloped.
Rents in the complex, primarily made up of two-bedroom units, are around 45 per cent below market rates.
The B.C. Rental Protection Fund contributed $5 million toward the cost of Nanaimo-based Ballenas Housing Society acquiring the building, along with a $1.25-million grant to support necessary renovations.
The $500-million Rental Protection Fund, announced in January 2023, was created to enable non-profit groups to acquire rental buildings in the province, with the aim of keeping rents affordable.
There is approved funding to preserve almost 1,500 homes throughout the province, with additional homes under funding consideration.
Sue Foreman, a resident in the complex, said in a news release she’s been watching the “oncoming squeeze” on below-market rentals for seniors for the past 10 years. “It has been a worrisome ride,” said Foreman, who called news of the purchase by Ballenas Housing with government funding a “tremendous relief.”
Those 65 and older make up 46 per cent of the population of Parksville, a community of about 14,000 — the highest concentration of seniors per capita in the province.
“When seniors make up the majority of Parksville’s affordable housing waitlist, and are the most prone to displacement, we simply can’t afford to lose the affordable seniors housing we already have,” said Katie Maslechko, CEO of the Rental Protection Fund.
In February, Victoria’s Lu’ma Native Housing Society purchased a 16-unit apartment building at 860 Carrie St. in Esquimalt — saving it from potential redevelopment — after receiving a $3-million contribution from the Rental Protection Fund, along with low-interest financing.
Moilliet Manor will be operated by the Ballenas Housing Society, a registered charity that manages a variety of housing options for independent adults, seniors and small families in Nanaimo and Parksville.
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