Below Market Lease – Affordable Housing Societies Street Homes
Motion 27 · Council Meeting, July 29, 2026
Summary
- Council authorized a lease extension with Affordable Housing Societies (AHS) for seven duplex properties (14 units total) in the Strathcona neighbourhood, collectively known as the Street Homes, extending the lease to August 30, 2035.
- The original 40-year lease expired August 30, 2025, and the properties have been in overhold since then; this extension formalizes ongoing non-market housing operations on City-owned land.
- Rents range from $1,495 to $2,470/month, providing housing affordable to households earning roughly $60,000–$99,000 annually, with at least 2 units (14%) required to serve low-income households at rents geared to 25% of gross income.
- Ground rent will be set at 50% of the Street Homes' projected annual operating surplus under the City's Non-Profit Lease Renewal Framework; the below-market rate constitutes a grant requiring approval by at least two-thirds of all Council members.
- Total estimated ground rent payments over the extension period are approximately $882,074, against a fair market lease value of roughly $1.64 million — the difference representing the City's subsidy to preserve affordable housing.
- Any remaining operating surpluses after ground rent and reserve contributions will be split equally between AHS and the City, with AHS required to reinvest its share into increasing affordability or creating new social housing in Vancouver.
Vote
Transcript
10 segments
And then speaker number nine, Mashiko Anso.
No, not on the line.
Thank you very much. So that is the end of our speakers list. And I do want to thank everyone for coming in today and speaking and all of your work in the community. Would someone like to move a motion? Great. Councillor Dominato, seconded by Councillor Zhou. Council, is there any discussion?
Councillor Meiszner.
Yes, I'll be brief. I just want to thank all our speakers for being here today and for speaking so eloquently in support of this lease. I think that this is a fantastic location for you in the interim. It's downtown in the library. I mean, there's tons of people moving about. You'll have a lot of visibility, and I know that you'll be welcoming in everyone from the community, regardless of whether or not they're Filipino or not. So I'm really excited to come visit you, and I hope that you'll be cooking up some delicious Filipino food as well, as I'm sure that'll be part of the program. So I'm very supportive of this, and I'm excited to see it move ahead, and even more excited to see you move into your permanent space in the coming years. So thanks for being here. Thank you very much. Councillor Kirby Young.
Yeah, thanks, Mayor. I just want to acknowledge and appreciate all of our speakers for speaking but coming in person and for a council meeting that was held over for several days. And so I know that your time was fluid, but you felt it was very important your voices represented. And I believe that that is because... you recognize that this is a very important moment along the journey and the way towards realizing the long-awaited dream of a Filipino cultural center. And I think that having an interim space is reflective and speaks to keeping the dream alive. It's tangible. I think one of the speakers referenced that it's an opportunity. to continue to grow and build the community and involve people along that journey and towards the dream. And that's really important that people feel part of it. But it is also, I think it gives, it makes it tangible and it makes it real that it's actually happening. It's not a concept, but there is genuinely a path forward towards that. And so I'm really happy to support it. And nothing is more inspiring, I think, than community leadership for people that are doing something that will last beyond your own generation. I used to work with somebody that called it cathedral thinking. You know, sometimes people use the analogy of planting a tree or building the cathedral that will stand for generations, or you may not stand under the shade of that tree, but that is genuinely what you are doing. And so I just wanted to acknowledge that, and I know that this is a moment that people will talk about when the center is realized and they tell their community members and their kids and their grandkids the stories of how it happened. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Councillor Clausen. Yeah, I'll be brief, and I would also like to acknowledge everyone who came in and called in today to speak. I'm not surprised that folks have come in here. There has been a... a spirit of determination around having a dedicated Filipino cultural amenity in this city for quite some time, decades. And so we've been, it's been our pleasure to sort of be able, sort of sharing that journey and trying to kind of move things forward. And I am, I think that the space itself is going to be great, is going to be activated well. I think it will have the aromas of good food and also just of community. And so I think that, again, the ultimate goal is obviously a dedicated space in the city of Vancouver, but to have an interim space that we can pull up together really much more quickly for community to gather, for other parts of the city to join you. in celebration is something that i truly look forward to and i want to just thank you all for being such true champions for the community and in terms of trying to make this happen so thanks very much happy to support this thank you councillor dominato
Thanks, Mayor. And I'll echo the comments of my colleagues. And starting first, Mabel, you've been stalwart and really leading the charge on this. And so thank you for that, for your leadership. To all of you who spoke, thank you for being here and really making the commitment to voice. what this brings to the community. I think it's really important, as we've heard in the past, we have some established communities who already have their cultural centers in the city, and it means a tremendous amount to have that space to gather, to celebrate, whether it's cooking, as many of you alluded to, because apparently we're all thinking about food this morning. But... but also in celebration arts and culture. But really, it comes down to being about community. And I know that this has been a longstanding dream, desire to have a space where the community can come together. And so I think this is a great first step. And I think it is a fantastic location in terms of being accessible as well. It's on public transit. And so really happy to be part of this journey with you. And so congratulations. And I'll leave my comments there, Mayor.
Thank you very much. Councillor Fry.
Yeah, I just wanted to pipe in and offer my congratulations on this achievement. And as the council liaison to the Vancouver Public Library, I just want to also... acknowledge that this is a fantastic use of what was kind of an underutilized space. And the connection between libraries as this third space and a gathering place for people of all cultures and interests and a place for people to convene, the connection there is not lost on me. And I think it's a wonderful opportunity. And I hope that there is an opportunity to actually engage with the central branch and maybe even... see how you can coordinate some programming together and just sort of increase that visibility and connection and togetherness. So congratulations. And wow, this is happening quickly too. I just realized what the date is for occupancy. This is, I imagine we'll be seeing something happening very soon. Congrats.
Thank you very much. Okay. So I'm going to count the vote or call the vote now. A reminder that any council member participating virtually whose video is disabled will be marked absent for the vote pursuant to section 14.13 of the procedure bylaw. If we can please go to the voting panel.
And that passes unanimously. So congratulations.