Sooke modular housing units to open in early 2022

The assembly of 104 prefabricated modular housing units is underway, bringing much needed affordable rental housing to the residents of Sooke, B.C.

The modular housing project located at 2170 Charters Road will house 75 rental units. The four-storey building will include studio-, one-, two- and three-bedroom suites.

“Sooke is sort of a mix of demographics of both young families and older retiring individuals,” said M’Akola Housing Society CEO Kevin Albers. “This is the first-of-its-kind four-storey building in the District of Sooke.”

The $25-million project was made possible by a partnership between the Capital Regional District (CRD), BC Housing, the District of Sooke, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the M’Akola Housing Society. When completed, the M’Akola Housing Society will manage the property.

“Fifteen of the homes are through the CRD’s 'Rental Housing First Program' and the rents will be set at the shelter rate for housing which is $375 per unit per month which is a very affordable rate,” said Albers. “The balance of the units will be set at average market rents that will be established in early 2022.”

What makes the project one-of-a-kind for the District of Sooke and the Greater Victoria region is the prefabricated housing modules used to construct the affordable rental building.

“It's the first modular housing building that M’Akola has built in its over-30-year existence,” said Albers. “There is a massive shortage of trades and we thought this would be a great opportunity to try out a modular solution.”

Each of the 104 modules was manufactured in a factory by NRB Modular Solutions in Kamloops, B.C. The units were then shipped to by truck to the Vancouver area, before being loaded on a barge destined for Victoria’s Ogden Point.

The white plastic “shrink-wrapped” units gathered a lot of attention from those who saw them while they were stored at the port.