This weekend marks the halfway point since the 2008 civic election, and City Hall is focussed on building on the successes of the 2010 Winter Games, says Mayor Gregor Robertson.

“Our city hosted an incredible Olympics and Paralympics, and the result is a growing sense of pride and ambition in Vancouver,” said Mayor Robertson. “We’ve emerged as a player on the world stage following the huge success of the Games, and our citizens deserve full credit for being gracious and energetic hosts.

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Vancouver City Council approved an option Thursday evening to have half of the affordable housing at the Olympic Village as social housing, and half as essential workforce housing rented at market rates.

“This is the best option for the Olympic Village, given the financial difficulties we inherited,” said Mayor Robertson. “Construction on the affordable housing went $46 million overbudget under the last council between 2006 and 2008. The result is that we find ourselves forced to seek a compromise between social housing and market rentals.

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In front of hundreds of people Saturday, Mayor Robertson joined Canadian Olympic gold medalist Ashleigh McIvor, VANOC CEO John Furlong, Rick Hansen, Millenium Development, and Bob Rennie to celebrate the return of the Olympic Village from VANOC to the City.

“When the world’s athletes were here in February and March, they said it was amazing and today, we get the chance to see this beautiful new Vancouver neighbourhood,” said the Mayor.

“You are standing in a LEED Platinum-certified development – the greenest in the world, by that standard. It’s a wonderful achievement and one that we can all be proud of.”

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Mayor Robertson announced today that he will be supporting the staff recommendation to create a 50/50 split of affordable housing in the Olympic Village.

Staff are recommending that of the 252 units of affordable housing at the Olympic Village, 50% of them be dedicated social housing, and 50% be rented at market rates with the units targeted as workforce housing for people who work in essential services in Vancouver.

“Keeping half of the affordable housing units as social housing and half as market rentals strikes the right balance,” said Mayor Robertson. “We need to keep our Olympic commitment to an affordable housing legacy in the Olympic village, and this allows us to do it. At the same time, we’re mitigating costs to taxpayers.”

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