Yesterday, I wrote about the city’s purchase of the Knight’s Inn which is, and now will continue to be, used for supportive housing run through B.C. Housing. One thing I didn’t quite make clear, though, was that the purchase came as B.C. Housing’s current lease on the space was expiring. The current lease was announced in October 2021 on a two-year basis at a rate of about $1 million. The new lease is also set to last about two years, at a rate of $47,250 per month, which they are paying up front for a total of $1,134,000, which is going to the city. That knocks the city’s purchase price of the property from $4.15 million to $3.16 million.

Several people have pointed out that the assessed value of the property is only $1.2 million but that’s not how real estate works — to choose a random example, this Cranbrook Hill property is being sold for $499,000 despite being assessed at $450,000 and here’s a place on Milburn listed at $319,000 with an assessed value of $276,900. I’m not saying that Knight’s Inn is worth $4.15 million but the fact that it’s assessed value is lower than that doesn’t prove it isn’t. As I wrote yesterday, it’s a key piece of civic property when you look at where it sits relative to other spaces like the pool and city hall.

As for the decision being made without public knowledge — that’s standard when it comes to government purchases of property. You think $4.15 million is high, imagine what a land owner could ask if everytime the government wanted to buy a piece of property it had to do so over the course of several weeks and public debate.

Right now, the city says this shouldn’t come at any increase to taxpayers, calling the possibility “unlikely.” And the reviews on this are, predictably, mixed, if you go through the comments. Everyone will have their own idea on whether this has value or not.

Meanwhile, more motels are being purchased for supportive housing

Following Tuesday’s announcement, the province announced yesterday that is has bought two more motels for supportive housing — the North Star Inn and Suites (formerly the Connaught Motor Inn) at at 1550 Victoria St. (pictured above, along 15th Ave.) and the former Lotus Hotel at 197 Quebec St. (I hadn’t heard of it, either) which is already being operated as a shelter by AWAC and will continue to do so.

All of these announcments are being billed as part of the province’s and city’s new Heart and Hearth agreement signed over the summer to team up on housing issues and it does seem like progress but it is also worth noting that only one of these spcaes — the North Star Inn — is actually adding new shelter space as opposed to simply preserving existing spaces for another couple of years, albeit in a more secure form given the new owners are government rather than private. North Star Inn adds 96 new units to the suite of supportive housing spaces available, with renovations expected to be done in 2024.

Probably worth noting in all of this is that North Star Inn was purchased in 2018 by Kamloops-based businessman Ron Mundi who was pretty bullish on the future of downtown Prince George, so this is a bit of a blow to that idea, I guess? On the other hand, he also bought the property to develop what is now the downtown Hyatt across from the pool at the same time and it seems to be going well, so he was at least half right.

And there’s also a new hospital parkade

The last bit of government-sponsored real estate news to come out this week is the province’s announcement that it will be building a 471 space parkade at the hospital which I don’t have a lot to say about because fortunately I’m not very familiar with the parking situation at the hospital. This does seem like a big development, though! Once it’s done, probably in 2025, the province says it will be followed by “followed by demolition of the Northern Interior Health Unit (NIHU) to support future site master plans,” which I am also intrigued by. If you know what’s up, let me know.

Top trick or treating neighbourhoods

A lot of people filled out the treat map in Prince George. The darker reds indicate more treaters and tend to be outside the bowl — in neighbourhoods in College Heights, the Hart and toward Blackburn. Not surprising, really.

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Quick news:

• In contrast to the Halloween riot of 1966, Halloween 2023 in Prince George was marked by even fewer calls to RCMP than normal.

• Thirteen of Northern Health’s 18 unregulated drug deaths in September occurred in PG, a number that is down from this time last year.

• Warm start, cold end to October averages out to “normal” month.

• After asking for $18,000 to help cover the cost of this year’s Remembrance Day Ceremonies, the Prince George Legion got a phone call from a woman in town who covered all the costs herself.

• Regional District of Fraser-Fort George receives provincial funding to identify flood, landslide risk hazards.

• After a shutout performance Sunday in Regina, Prince George Cougars rookie Josh Ravenbergen has been named the WHL’s goaltender of the week.

• The WHL is now requiring players to wear neck guards following a tragic on-ice death in England.

• Highway of Tears walk this week.

• Donations needed for Christmas hampers for seniors.

Today’s song:

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