Photo Credit: City of Prince George

By Sam Bennison

BC Housing

City purchases Knights Inn Motel to lease to BC Housing

Oct 31, 2023 | 2:37 PM

PRINCE GEORGE— The City of Prince George has agreed to purchase the Knights Inn Motel located at 650 Dominion Street, for $4.15 million. The purchase agreement comes with a completion date of March 14, 2024.

BC housing currently leases the property and intends to continue with a proposed new two year lease agreement in place from March 31,2024 to March 30,2026. The lease will be $47,250 per month for 44 rooms of supportive housing for people living outside or in emergency shelters.

The decision to purchase the property was made in partnership with the City and BC Housing, who agreed to pay their 24 month lease upfront, contributing a total of $1,134,000 to the purchase.The remainder of the funds used to purchase the property come from the City’s Endowment Reserve Fund.

BC Housing will have the option to extend the Knight Inn lease term for an additional six month period beyond March 2026, and will be responsible for all capital and operational repairs to the property as well as be responsible for payment of all property taxes and utilities charges. BC Housing has opted to contribute an extra fixed fee of $450,000 towards potential future demolition costs, subject to future council decisions, instead of covering the expenses of restoring the building to its original state, as per standard lease conditions.

Mayor Simon Yu said the purchase of this property makes sense for the City given its location, and that it has been a positive negotiation with BC Housing.

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This a good asset for the City to own as it is right in our Civic Core and we can consider its future use as part of our Civic Core planning which is currently underway,

Mayor Simon Yu

The collaboration between BC Housing and the City of Prince George on this purchase is inline with the the “Heart and Hearth” Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) signed by the City and the Province in June that formalizes their join committment to better support people in the community who are unhoused.

The M.O.U. clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the Province and the City when it comes to the health and safety of people sheltering outdoors, and creating new temporary housing options to transition people out of encampments.