The City of Vancouver could chop the number of social housing units in the Olympic Village in half in order to recoup some of the costs of the troubled project, Mayor Gregor Robertson announced Tuesday.
"Core-needs" households would be left with 126 of the initially promised 252 social housing units in False Creek.
The other 126 would be rented out at market rates to people whose income is below a certain level and who work in the health and public safety sectors in Vancouver.
Robertson called the split "a good balance."
"It maintains our commitment to affordable housing at the Olympic Village while at the same time mitigates the cost to the taxpayer," he said.
The cost of the 252 units was originally estimated at $64 million, but has since been ballooned to more than $110 million.
Robertson blamed the project's increasing cost to problems inherited from the previous council, and a lack of financial oversight.
"It's unfortunate that we couldn't have more social housing on the site and that financial realities are forcing us to scale back," he said.
Laura Stannard of the Citywide Housing Coalition said she was disappointed by the news, but not surprised – and that the city chose the "best of the worst options."
"They are between a rock and a hard place," Stannard said. "I think it's as fair as the city can get considering their situation."
There are a total of 1,100 housing units, including the allotted social housing, in the project.
Council is expected to make a final decision Thursday.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Renu Bakshi
