By Kitty Cheung, Staff Writer
Sibo Chen, graduate student and former SFU UniverCity Community Trust board member, presented a briefing on Lot 21, a graduate student housing project to be built in UniverCity to the Graduate Student Society (GSS) during their May 14 council meeting. The presentation was given with the intent to include the GSS in the conversation surrounding Lot 21 and its eventual management.
Accompanied by professor emeritus Robert Anderson, Chen told the council that 50 units will be designated as family-oriented housing and 50 studio units will be for single students. The pricing will be 10% below market rate, which Chen characterized as not truly affordable. When asked by a TSSU representative if that pricing was open to negotiation, Chen responded that “If GSS joins the conversation [ . . . ] maybe.” However, having just finished his term on the board of the SFU Community Trust, he “[could] not say.”
During the meeting, the TSSU representative later provided data on the costs of housing in the Louis Riel Building, a former SFU graduate residence which has now been demolished. According to this TSSU representative, Louis Riel costed $759 per month for a one bedroom residence ($896 per month after today’s inflation). For a two-bedroom residence, this would be $897 per month ($1050 today). To put that into perspective, the TSSU representative cited the “most recent statistics” from the City of Vancouver regarding affordable housing as $1,900 for one bedroom and $2,700 for two bedroom.
This project comes from an earlier program that did not go through called “SFU Burnaby Mountain College.” Chen said that a college structure could be established to improve graduate student life.
When asked during the meeting about what this college structure would entail, Chen responded by using UBC’s Green College as an example, stating that it functions as a residence and also has a small budget to facilitate graduate-student-only activities. Chen described the college as a “management structure” which would govern what kind of residents will live in that building, as well as the programming which would be developed “to create a more collective graduate life.”
According to Chen, all of the engineering details have been confirmed but the board has yet to finalize a contractor. However, the main issue with this housing project is management.
Chen stated that the board would finish the building but currently does not have anyone assigned to govern it. Chen is now coming forward to the GSS about getting involved in the management of Lot 21, asking the council to “agree in principle to initiate a working group to discuss the issue.” According to Chen, the Dean of Graduate Studies is already in favour of this housing project, but that by going directly to the GSS, a conversation could be initiated with graduate students themselves.
During the question period, the TSSU representative brought up that a GSS working group had been established regarding the 2016 demolition of the Louis Riel Building. Having been a part of this working group, the TSSU representative suggested using the same framework to assist with any Lot 21 discussions, since it also dealt with graduate housing issues.
GSS Advocate and Policy Advisor Harjap Grewal expressed that if a working group was created, the GSS would need people who work well together to step up. “Even if at this meeting, we can get an indication of some people [ . . . ] who are interested in joining, that would be really helpful for us to get going,” Grewal stated.
Matthew McDonald, director of external relations, added that his predecessor Noortje de Weers had worked on Lot 21, and that he himself will be involved in making sure that this housing project will be as “affordable as possible” for graduate students.
“Personally, a working group on this sounds like a great idea and I’d be [a] part of it,” stated McDonald.
