UBC faculty and staff will begin moving into a new dedicated, below-market rental housing development in the Wesbrook Place neighbourhood later this month.
With 136 units ranging from studio to four-bedroom, the Theory building is the first of three new rental buildings to complete construction in the southeast corner of the Wesbrook Place neighbourhood. Once all of the buildings are finished, the trio will add a total of 515 new units to UBC's rental housing supply. Two-thirds will be homes for faculty and staff, expanding the amount of workforce housing UBC provides, which is already the largest offering in the province with close to 1,400 affordable homes for university employees. This is in addition to 14,000 student housing beds.
Suites in Theory are offered at about 25 per cent less than market rates.
"UBC has long recognized the need for affordable homes for its students, faculty and staff because we know the Metro Vancouver housing and rental market is financially challenging. That's why, over the last decade, the university has invested heavily in building housing for our community, so UBC can continue attracting and retaining exceptional students, faculty and staff," said Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver.
As of August 2024, UBC's Vancouver campus had more than 21,000 homes, including more than 14,000 non-market student housing rental beds, making UBC the largest provider of student housing in Canada. All of UBC's student housing beds are rented at below-market prices.
Of the nearly 7,200 neighbourhood dwellings, 33 per cent (2,334 homes) are rental homes prioritized for faculty, staff, students and non-UBC employees on campus (e.g. retail workers), including 15 per cent of discounted homes (1,103 homes) for faculty/staff at approximately 25 per cent below market rents.
UBC plans to build even more affordable housing as it begins implementing Campus Vision 2050, a long-range plan that will guide significant growth and change on the Vancouver campus over the next 25 years. In addition to a doubling of the campus residential population by 2050, with half of the residents living in below-market accommodations, including 3,300 new student beds and about 6,000 new rental homes, Campus Vision plans for more academic space, enhanced green spaces and local biodiversity, and more green infrastructure to align with UBC's sustainability commitments. The Vision was developed through an extensive two-year planning and engagement process.
"Campus Vision 2050 gives us the opportunity to expand affordable housing for students, faculty and staff as our community grows," said Michael White, Associate Vice-President, Campus and Community Planning, UBC. "Our goal is to create a vibrant campus community where people can live, work and thrive for decades to come."
The university will be engaging the community starting Oct. 29 to update the Wesbrook Place neighbourhood plan. The first major step in implementing Campus Vision 2050, the update will focus on Wesbrook Place South, the southern, unbuilt portion of the neighbourhood around the new Theory building. It will enable more housing, including affordable, below-market housing along with new amenities and services such as childcare, open spaces and retail to keep pace with the growing residential population at UBC. Neighbourhood expansion will be guided by a recently completed Neighbourhood Climate Action Plan and new residential buildings are required to comply with the university's Residential Environmental Assessment Program.
UBC is also continuing to advocate and prepare for the arrival SkyTrain to improve access to the university and reduce commute times for members of the UBC community living across the region.
Alongside its long-term land use planning process, UBC updated its Housing Action Plan, which commits to building up to 40 per cent of future homes on campus as rental for students, faculty, staff and non-UBC employees, including one in four future homes as below-market faculty/staff rental.
"The university is proud of its track record in not only building housing, but also in creating housing options that support the recruitment, retention and the wellbeing of our faculty, staff and our community members," said Adam Charania, Interim Vice-President, Human Resources, UBC.
Through the Housing Action Plan, the university has a number of housing affordability programs for faculty/staff:
- 1,103 units of rental housing at approximately 25 per cent below market rents, with nearly 300 under construction and more than 2,000 future units planned
- More than 100 spots in a rent-geared-to-income program for low to moderate-income staff to live on campus while paying 30 per cent of household income on rent
- Forgivable interest-free down payment assistance loans for faculty
- Up to $20 million annually in home ownership loans for tenure-stream faculty
- Prioritization for faculty and staff to purchase on-campus condos before the general public
More information about Theory is available here.
