Concrete issues will delay seniors housing project in Langley City till next year

Problems with concrete will delay a new Langley City seniors housing project by almost a year, B.C. Housing has confirmed.

In response to a Langley Advance Times query about the 101-unit, eight-storey tall project at 20355 54th Ave. the provincial Crown agency issued a statement that “previous delays due to an issue with the type of concrete the contractor procured has pushed the estimated completion to spring of 2024.”

Originally, the building was supposed to be ready for occupation by the summer of 2023.

READ ALSO: Concrete ‘issues’ discovered in new Langley Lions Housing Society project said to be minor

Last year, Terra Housing Consultants, the development management company overseeing the project, estimated the concrete problems would delay completion by at least six weeks.

Terra president Stuart Thomas explained repairs were being carried out after a problem with the initial concrete pour was discovered by the project architect and structural engineer.

At the time, Thomas said the issue affected “way less than one per cent” of the concrete

Billed as the tallest building in Langley City, the project will replace the Birch, a three-storey, 66-unit apartment building that was consumed by a fire in 2017.

One resident died in the blaze, and 60 people lost their homes.

Offering affordable housing, the new building will be owned and operated by the Langley Lions Housing Society (LLHS), a non-profit that currently operates seven apartment buildings on its 203rd Street property, some more than 40 years old.

READ MORE: Langley Lions unveil proposed replacement for apartments lost in fire

It is the first project in the City to take place under a joint housing agreement between city hall and the Lions Housing Society.

Under the terms of the housing agreement, 80 per cent of the suites in the eight-storey building near 203rd Street and 54th Avenue must be occupied by tenants 55 and older.

All must be rental suites, with 30 per cent for “moderate income” renters who can pay what was described as “affordable market rents” in a report to council, while 50 per cent pay rent based on a percentage of their income and 20 per cent will be for tenants who require “low income deep subsidy.”

Meanwhile, demolition of the Alder, another aging building operated by the Lions society in the same complex has begun.

The society is working to line up government funding to build its replacement.