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An independent candidate for councillor is calling on Richmond to use a new provincial law to require most housing units at the proposed Richmond Centre mall redevelopment be designated as rentals.

John Roston said the city would be squandering a “golden opportunity” to tackle the housing crisis if it doesn’t make changes to the proposed project, slated for a public hearing on Monday.

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Photo by Nick Procaylo / PNG

The plan by owner Cadillac Fairview and developer SHAPE is to build 2,000 units in 12 new buildings, with most to be sold as condos, along with new public streets, outdoor spaces, and commercial and retail spaces built on the site of the mall and Sears parkade at 6551 No. 3 Road.

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“We have a critical shortage of rental housing, and rents are astronomically high,” said Roston. “One of the ways to bring rents down is to increase the supply dramatically.”

About 150 rental residences are created in Richmond every year, said Roston, but coming developments at Richmond Centre, Lansdowne Centre mall, and other properties along No. 3 Road are the city’s chance to boost the city’s rental supply dramatically, “with thousands of rental properties, and they can be at market rates.”