In Brightside’s early days, all of our buildings were developed with the generous support of the Lions Clubs, including the Burrard Lions Club and the Central Lions Club, the Western Institute for the Deaf, the King’s Daughters, the Ladies of the Loyal Orange Lodge, the Soroptimist Club and the Kitsilano United Church Seniors Society.
These organizations all shared our interest in supporting seniors and donated their time, land, or seed funding to build much-needed, rent-controlled homes for low-income seniors.
In the ‘90s, Brightside partnered with Wilson Heights Church and the First Lutheran Church to develop buildings on church-owned land to support low-income families.
Partnering with Brightside
For non-profit societies that share our vision of creating affordable rental units for low-income seniors and families in need, Brightside offers over 60 years of experience with non-market housing solutions in Vancouver.
Brightside can be your partner for any building you no longer want to manage.
With 26 properties under Brightside’s management, we have the infrastructure in place to make sure your property receives proper care.
“Although the Corps of Commissionaires had owned Coleopy Park since the 1950s, and saw it through redevelopment, by 1999 it was their one remaining housing project, and they felt it was time to pass it on to a society whose sole purpose was non-profit housing. They transferred the property to Brightside, so that we could provide housing to 36 low-income seniors and 22 low-income families.”
Brightside can partner to develop land owned by other non-profits.
Brightside has built many apartments on land owned by other organizations that shared our mission of creating affordable housing for low-income Vancouver residents. Our experience lies in partnering with societies that have land, want to create housing but not to manage the day-to-day operations of owning a building. In some cases, the best solution may be to lease the land to Brightside.
“Wilson Heights United Church wanted to build senior’s housing on their church parking lot but didn’t want to own and manage the building. Brightside partnered with Wilson Heights to make this vision a reality. In this situation, what worked best for both partners was for Brightside to prepay a land lease to Wilson Heights, giving them much-needed revenue to pay for church renovations. The church retained the ownership of their land and when the long-term lease expires, both the land and the building will revert to their care.”
Brightside is an experienced partner for new non-market housing developments.
Operating non-profit housing in British Columbia is a very complex business due to the regulations imposed by all three levels of government. It’s also very costly to operate one building and rare for any organization to make such a social enterprise generate a profit. Brightside is eager to partner with non-profits that consider developing rent-controlled housing. With 26 buildings under management, our economies of scale allow us to efficiently add new housing to our infrastructure.
“The purpose of the Soroptimist Club is to raise money and give grants to organizations that support women. In the 1960s, they saw a dire housing need for retired single women and, since they aren’t in the business of creating programs, the Soroptimist Club invested in three housing projects: one of which was with Brightside.”
To discuss partnership opportunities with Brightside, call (604) 684 3515 and leave a message for the CEO or email info@brightsidehomes.ca
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