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y 22, 1994 - Nortn Shore News - 21

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co-ops provide a new housing option

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

PARKGATE HOUSING Co-op director and chairman, Eric
’ Bennett (left) and Jim Roberts, took over a model of the new
senlors’ facility that is slated to be built in North Vancouver.

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SENIORS WHO grow older
and want to trade in the family
home for more affordable
accommodation generally face
a dilemma.

By Greg Feiton
Contributing Writer

Those who have equity in their
homes aren’t eligible for conven-
tional social housing (even though
they can’t afford market rates); and
if they should find a place, it often
means moving out of their neigh-
borhood.

Now, a third option has arrived
— or rather, will arrive next sum-
mer. The planned Parkgate Seniors’
Equity Co-operative represents an
innovation in seniors’ housing that
addresses specifically the societal
and housing needs of seniors.

Unlike regular market-based co-
ops which tic housing charges
(rents) to income or the real estate
market, an equity co-op ties rents to
the cost of living, said Parkgate
board chairman Jim Roberts.

“There’s no windfall profit, but
there’s no loss due to external
forces either,” he said.

“The beauty of this for older
people is that they’re able to keep
their purchasing power intact.
When you leave you get back what
you put in plus a cost-of-living fac-

The co-op itself enters into a

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mortgage arrangement with a
lender, in this case VanCity, and
then the co-op board offers mort-
gages to seniors.

Roberts said a senior can buy an
apartment outright for $150,000
(based on 900 sq. ft.) or pay off a
mortgage as fast as they want with
a down payment of 25%.

Parkgate consists of 54 suites in
(we triangular, three-storey wings
astride a central amenity area.
Raberts said each suite is designed
so that seniors can, to use an indus-
try expression, “age in place.”

“Once you move into your suite,
everything’s wheelchair-accessible
and the walls in the critical areas,
like bathrooms, are all reinforced
so that if grab bars are needed al a
later date they can be installed,” he
said.

Parkgate architect John Currie,
of John Currie Architect Inc., said
the building design reflects a recog-
nition among developers and archi-
tects that buildings increasingly
have to adapt to older people.

The unique aspect of Parkgate in
this regard, he said, is the enclosed
glass-roofed, air-conditioned atrium
space in each wing. .

“With the atriums, people are
much more aware of their neigh-
bors. Each entrance opens up onto,
and is accessible from, the atrium,”
said Currie.

This is in contrast to other apart-
ment buildings where people “scoot
off” to elevators with little or no
concern for other residents.

It is the social aspect of Parkgate
that makes it more than a housing
development, added Roberts.

The floor-to-ceiling atrium gar-
dens are ideal for social interaction
year round. “People don’t have to
be lonely anymore.”

In addition toa conventional
foom with a TV and bridge tables,
the central amenity area has a cof-
fee area, flowers and plants. It can
be be used for large functions such
as line dancing, bingo games, din-
ners and concerts.

Parkgate came about partly
because of need and partly because
of good timing.

in 1990, the Mt. Seymour
United Church set up a task force to
investigate seniors’ housing in the
area. Roberts, then a member, said
the equity co-op model was accept-
ed because it addressed seniors’
housing needs the most efficiently.

Coincidentally, then mayor of
North Vancouver District Marilyn
Baker was heading a Housing
Strategy task force that came to
similar conclusions.

While the final report consid-
ered all age groups and all types of

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