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Phoenix project gets thumbs up from businesses, council

Shipping containers for temporary employee housing will be provided by U.S. company SG Blocks
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Phoenix Rising Drawings of the Phoenix housing project, proposed to ease Whistler's housing crunch.

As the Phoenix housing project continues to gain steam — with several key pieces falling into place this week — enthusiasm around town is palpable.

“I think it is exactly what we need and exactly what we should be focusing on,” said Joey Gibbons, owner of four bars in Whistler, of the temporary housing project being built to ease Whistler’s anticipated housing crunch over the next two years.

“The last thing we want on our staff’s mind going into a season is where they are going to hang their hat… I am just worried there is not enough units.”

The housing, organized by the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, will be in the form of modified shipping containers and will be in place from November this year until April 30, 2010.

Scott Taber of Four Seasons Resort Whistler said his hotel is also eyeing the units, although he was not able to say exactly how many beds the company will sign up for.

“We are still evaluating our own needs, but we’ll come to those conclusions very quickly,” said Taber.

“We’ll be definitely taking some,” he said, adding he is impressed by the privacy, layout, creative design and use of common space in the plans for the units.

And owner of the local McDonald’s, Tom Horler, said his company plans on signing up for eight beds.

“As an employer, I think the configuration is absolutely ideal because you can take a unit that has three bedrooms or you can take a unit that has four bedrooms,” said Horler.

“It is like your own self-contained affordable staff house.”

Horler added his company will also help pay rental costs for its employees. This is not new policy, however, since the local company already subsidizes staff housing up to 40 per cent.

On Monday, council unanimously passed a motion to waive service fees and expedite the permit process. The motion also recognized the density on the Holborn site, where the housing will be erected, may need to be increased if demand warrants.

This was the go-ahead the chamber needed to make the project a reality and get at least five buildings of temporary housing up-and-running by November.

“I don’t think we could have asked for it to be any better,” said chamber president Louise Lundy.

“I was really quite surprised that we essentially got council to agree to our three requests with out any questions or concerns or real concerns from the audience, so we were delighted.”

The chamber has also announced the supplier of the housing containers: St. Louis-based company SG Blocks.

SG Blocks — with SG standing for “safe green” — was incorporated in February 2007 and uses recycled, re-engineered steel shipping containers to make homes. Many of these shipping containers were once used to import goods, but since the U.S. imports more than it exports and it is too expensive to ship empty containers back to their country of origin, they now sit empty in ports throughout the country.

“They are a company with strong experience and expertise in temporary housing solutions,” said Lundy.

“Aside from their green building principles, SG Blocks were also selected because of their aggressive pricing and creative design.”

SG Blocks will deliver, set up and remove the 210 units of employee housing. Constructing the buildings will take about five months, and tearing them down after the Games end in March 2010 should take about two months.

Lundy also revealed pictures of the future development, which show five to seven buildings, each three-storeys tall, on a well-manicured plot of land.

Each floor will be divided into three- and four-bedroom units, with 14 bedrooms total. Bedrooms will consist of one bed and window, with access to a kitchen, bathroom, and common area with dining table, seating and a flat screen TV.

The price to rent a room will be a maximum of $650 per month, and Lundy said this cost includes cleaning and maintenance, snow clearing, garbage and recycling and exterior lighting.

Lundy stressed that the buildings will be coloured and textured to blend in with the surrounding area.

Laundry facilities, bike lockers, and 30 parking stalls will also be located on site.

While Phoenix project organizers currently plan to build 210 temporary units of housing on the Holborn site, 84 extra units may come on board if there is demand and if the Holborn property is rezoned by council before November.

With most details worked out, the chamber will start signing up businesses and collecting deposits from May 15 to 28. Employers will be required to sign an 18-month lease, spanning Nov. 1 2008 to April 30 2010, as well as put down three months deposit of $1,950 per bed. If the project does not go through, deposits will be refunded.

Eager businesses can already put their name down on the list to confirm their interest by visiting whistlerchamber.com.

Lundy added: “If we have more deposits than beds, a process to distribute the beds fairly will be determined.”

Whistler-Blackcomb, the largest employer in Whistler, is especially aware of the need to distribute beds equitably.

Joel Chevalier, director of employee experience, said while the company is interested in the housing options at Phoenix, and they want to make sure Whistler-Blackcomb is not getting more than its fair share.

“It is impossible not to keep that in mind,” said Chevalier.

“We are just doing our best to make sure we are co-operating with the community on this one. We know the need for beds is a good need and we know that we have a need just the same as everyone else. We are just trying to make sure we are a fair player in this game.”

Chevalier added that Whistler-Blackcomb has not yet confirmed how many beds they will sign up for or how much subsidy they will provide.

However, not all companies in town will be signing up for Phoenix housing units.

“I talked to some of my staff, and they weren’t that keen on it,” said Roger Ryan, owner of the Beet Root Café, although he admitted he had not been following the project closely.

The Phoenix housing project grew out of the H.O.M.E. committee, an alliance between the chamber and the Whistler Housing Authority. It was started in 2006 to help address the affordable housing shortage after Whistler lost 137 beds with the closing of the Shoestring Lodge.

The project was still at the bare-bones stage when it was first presented to council in February this year. At that time, the committee said it wish to bring an additional 250 beds to Whistler at about $575 to $675 each, although the project then lacked a supplier, secure funding and a business plan.