Project Context
The Village of Fruitvale, located in southeastern British Columbia’s West Kootenay region, is a community of approximately 2,000-residents. Known for its rural and suburban-style detached homes, Fruitvale is surrounded by scenic mountains and natural landscapes. Like many small communities, it has faced a shortage of diverse housing options to meet the evolving needs of its population, including seniors, working individuals, and lower-income families. When a former school site became available, the Village took the opportunity to purchase the property and lead its redevelopment to address these critical housing gaps.
CitySpaces' Role
CitySpaces was retained by the Village of Fruitvale to lead the master planning process for the redevelopment of a 10-acre former middle school site. The vision was to transform the site into a community-serving space, including a childcare centre and a mix of affordable and market housing.
The scope of work included assessing community needs, facilitating visioning and engagement workshops, coordinating service capacity and infrastructure analyses, developing preliminary site concepts, and conducting financial feasibility assessments. The resulting Master Plan proposed a range of housing types to meet the needs of aging seniors, adults with special needs, the growing local workforce, and low-income families.
Following the Master Plan’s adoption in 2020, CitySpaces was engaged by the Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society to oversee the development of Blizzard Mountain Place, a 31-unit affordable housing project within the plan area. CitySpaces managed the project from concept feasibility through to funding, design, procurement, and construction.
Close coordination with the Village and neighboring sites was essential during pre-development and construction, particularly to align servicing and off-site improvements for both current and future phases. Despite a mid-winter construction start and regional labour shortages, schedule delays were largely mitigated through strong collaboration, negotiation, and tight schedule management between CitySpaces and the construction manager.
CitySpaces also worked closely with primary funders, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and BC Housing, and supported the Society in securing additional equity and in-kind contributions from regional and corporate partners.
Completed in Fall 2025, Blizzard Mountain Place now provides safe, stable, and affordable housing for 31 local households.
Impact
Provides 31 new homes to low- and middle-income households within a community of 2,000-people.
Areas of Expertise
Social Policy & Planning
Land Use Planning
Facilitation + Engagement
Visioning & Project Concept
Partnership Generation
Feasibility & Business Cases
Owner’s Representative & Project Management
Construction Administration
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