The Whistler Housing Authority (WHA) has announced the sales process is underway for 46 resident-restricted units in Cheakamus Crossing, what the municipal subsidiary called “a small step forward in the complex, local housing challenge.”
Pre-sales have begun at 1340 Mount Fee Road, a project resulting from a collaboration between the WHA, Resort Municipality of Whistler, and Whistler Development Corporation.
In addition to those ownership opportunities, the WHA announced in a release Wednesday that another 54 units will go up for sale to employees on the WHA ownership waitlist this summer.
Over the past five years, the WHA said it has expanded its housing inventory by 320 employee bed units, representing a 58-per-cent increase in that time—including Cheakamus Crossing’s 45-unit Granite Ridge rental complex, which opened last March.
One of those units is occupied by three participants in local non-profit Zero Ceiling’s Work 2 Live program, which offers supportive housing and employment for a year to vulnerable young adults.
“Over the last year, Granite Ridge has been a true home for three young people in Zero Ceiling’s program who have faced barriers to stable housing throughout their lives,” said Sean Easton, Zero Ceiling’s co-executive director, in the release. “It’s far more than a roof over their heads—it’s a place where they feel safe, welcomed, and loved. With a secure home, they’ve been able to focus on their own well-being and dreams for the future.”
Easton has been vocal in his calls for Whistler to do more to support the lower end of the resort’s housing market. He is one of the recent additions to the board of the Whistler Valley Housing Society, something of a precursor to the WHA that has largely been inactive in recent years. But with an injection of new blood on the board, the society is now looking to fill in the gaps in Whistler’s housing market and serve as an umbrella organization of sorts for the community’s non-profit housing sector.
“Our vision that we landed on is to provide and advocate for a broader spectrum of housing opportunities for the Whistler community, and our mission is addressing the diverse housing needs of the Whistler community to ensure no one is left behind,” Easton told Pique in a January interview.
In the release, WHA general manager Marla Zucht acknowledged “there is still much more do be done on the community goal of providing additional housing supply. We know access to employee housing directly contributes to building a stronger, more stable, and resilient future for our community. We are focused on finding innovative and affordable housing solutions for our local workforce and continuing to evolve and improve upon Whistler’s longstanding Employee Housing Program.”
The Whistler Housing Authority’s 2022 corporate plan and information about enrolling for the employee housing programs can be found at whistlerhousing.ca.
