Vancouver’s Patricia Hotel to be converted into housing for homeless

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The Patricia Hotel on the Downtown Eastside has been purchased by the province and will be converted to housing for people experiencing homelessness, including those encamped at Strathcona Park.

The historic hotel on Hastings Street is one of three buildings bought in order to provide a total of 249 units of housing.

One hundred units will become available at the Patricia Hotel by the end of April, with the other 95 opening up once existing tenants have found other places to live. The other two buildings on Main Street will provide a combined 54 units.

“The building will be managed by an experienced non-profit housing operator who will be on site 24/7 to manage the building and provide support services to the residents. Daily meals, access to life-skills training, employment assistance and counselling, physical and mental health resources, and access to addiction recovery services, will be available to residents,” says a statement from BC Housing.

249 new permanent homes for people who are homeless in Vancouver:
Patricia Hotel (195 units)
956 Main St (22 units)
1012 Main St (32 units)

Thanks for your partnership on this urgent work, @Dave_Eby & @BC_Housing!https://t.co/Qm8Ikniml5 #vanpoli #housingisahumanright pic.twitter.com/ZrEj4PiRoC

— Christine Boyle (@christineeboyle) April 1, 2021

According to BC Housing, all three properties will have on-site supports.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the urgent need we have in Vancouver to secure housing and wraparound supports for neighbours who have been pushed to the sidelines for too long,” writes Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart,

“Not only will these homes help bring more people in off the street, the strong suite of supports and health care on site will also help to put people on a path toward wellness.”

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According to Housing Minister David Eby, these spaces are part of an overall plan to move everyone currently living in tents at Strathcona Park indoors by the end of April.

“These properties, along with the three already announced and our new temporary shelters, will help us reach our target of opening up enough dignified inside spaces for everyone currently living outdoors

“Street homelessness and encampments aren’t working for anyone in Vancouver − not for people who have been living outside over the winter in unsafe conditions without access to supports, and not for their neighbours who live nearby,” Eby writes.