Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin stands on the second floor of the Traveller’s Inn at 120 Gorge Rd. The City has bid for three of the hotels as part of an effort to create affordable housing.

Sharon Tiffin/News staff

The City of Victoria hopes to be the new owner of three hotels — with the goal of creating and maintaining affordable family housing.
The City has bid on Traveller’s Inn hotels for sale at 723 Field St., 710-712 Queen St. and 120 Gorge Rd.
“The day after the announcement of the bankruptcy of the Traveller’s Inn (chain) we were calling meetings getting everyone together,” said Mayor Dean Fortin. “We’ve been working on this for five months.”
At this point, the private sector could outbid the City. The receivers, appointed by the court to oversee the operation and sale of the properties, will recommend to the judge whether to reject, consider or request changes to the Victoria’s offers.
If successful, the City plans to front the down payment and is in discussions with B.C. Housing about carrying the mortgages. The goal is to award an operating contract to a non-profit housing agency.
Victoria will now look to the federal government for financial contributions, especially for renovations.
The building at 120 Gorge Rd., for instance, has 69 units but would be converted into 34 family-sized units. All three hotels contain 133 units in total.
An analysis of the hotels revealed that at least 25 per cent of units in the hotels are currently being used as affordable long-term housing.
“So it is an opportunity to preserve low-cost housing but certainly an opportunity to move forward and create housing,” Fortin said.
Affordable housing is the City’s number one priority, he said. In 2009, Victoria contributed $2 million toward the creation of more than 280 units of non-market housing. The projects include the Wing and Dockside Green in Vic West, the Ellice Street shelter and transitional housing in Burnside Gorge, and the Humboldt Valley, The Hudson and 834 Johnson downtown.
The Traveller’s Inn bids would mark the first purchase by the City of already-existing facilities.
Two hotels in the chain have already been bought by City Metro Properties, with the sale of the second due to close this week.
Several others are up for sale or expected to come up for sale.
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