Kwayatsut (K-why-ah-sote) is from the Coast Salish language, meaning seeking one’s power or spirit quest. This LEED Gold certified project serves homeless and homeless-at-risk residents in 103 housing units. The building has a mixture of tenants with varying support needs including 38 units specifically earmarked for youth. Support programming includes a cultural component addressing the challenges of urban Indigenous people.
Pacific Coast Resources Society (PCRS) operates their Broadway Youth Resource Centre (BYRC) on site, providing a wide range of innovative, multi-agency support services, including social, health, housing, education, employment and life skills services, to youth between the ages of 12 and 24 (including residents of the project) in a 20,000 square foot space. At street level there is retail space owned and managed by the City of Vancouver.
Terra worked with the project team to make adjustments to the scope of the project and overcome neighbourhood objections in order to achieve the necessary rezoning for the site and to see the advancement of the PCRS proposal to undertake BYRC youth training, certification and involvement in the commercial building deconstruction.
In addition to providing development management services to the new project, Terra represented PCRS in a successful search to temporarily relocate the BYRC for two years while their original location was redeveloped. Terra’s role included navigation of complex approvals within multiple departments at the City of Vancouver, supporting the negotiation of the final lease agreements and management of the contracting, budgeting, and scheduling to renovate the 8,000 sq. ft. temporary space and allow services to continue without disruption.