With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1490198
Created by the Canada Wide Media advertising department in partnership with First Track Investment and Development I n the hurry-up-and-wait world of residential development, property developers purchase existing properties, which commonly lie dormant for several years while undertaking the long and painful city process to obtain the permits necessary to redevelop. But Sasha Faris and Matt Ilich have found a unique way to put that waiting time to good use—and at the same time, help displaced Ukrainian war refugees find secure housing. Faris and Ilich, president and director, respectively, of Vancouver- based First Track Investment and Development, repurposed two otherwise vacant homes awaiting demolition at Nanaimo Street and East 10th Avenue (which, along with five other homes, will ultimately make way for First Track's 72-unit Woodland Block series of new apartments and townhomes) to be safe, affordable housing for families seeking refuge from Russia's assault on Ukraine. The homes were refurbished and furnished by First Track under Operation Welcome Home, an initiative of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. (formally known as the United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society) and Maple Hope Foundation, which works with Ukrainian refugees. Through a combined effort with municipal staff, a settlement services operator and advisors, the project will provide living amenities, job opportunities, English language learning, and other support that's needed to live in Metro Vancouver. While settlement services in Vancouver have been some time in the making, First Track spearheaded these fully furnished homes, and Faris (who grew up as a member of one of Vancouver's most established real estate families, Intergulf Development Group) was willing to undertake the legal and bureaucratic complexities of making the homes useful to a worthy cause. He says with regards to dealing with the City of Vancouver, "If we can show them that it's as turn-key PHOTO: SASHA FARIS AND MATT ILICH First Track: Community is Everything Sasha Faris and Matt Ilich are creating community while inspiring other property developers to follow suit with Ukrainian refugee housing at East Vancouver's Woodland Block.