[whatnext]

This isn't really a surprise given the sketchy nature of the owners of this damaged heritage property. There should be an online database that allows the public to see who owns what. This one couple is linked to at least three other properties, I'm sure it would be an eye opener for the public to see how many people own multiple properties:

The heritage mansion at 3737 Angus Dr. looked like a write-off after it mysteriously went up in flames early on a Sunday morning last October.

However, the city has deemed that the house is very much salvageable, with more than 60 per cent of it intact, according to former Heritage Commission chair Richard Keate. The owner will have to restore it, not necessarily to its original state, but to an approximation of the original Tudor Revival that was built in 1910 by famous architect Samuel Maclure.

It's good news for heritage advocates, and not just because they like old houses. It sends an invaluable message that protected houses will be protected – and that a torched house is not automatically a demolished house.

From the get-go, the fire department had said the fire was "suspicious...

...The restoration of 3737 Angus Dr. is not off to an easy start. The house has remained uncovered throughout the winter months. With a good deal of the roof gone, the house's previously pristine interior has been exposed to rain, sleet and snow....

...The city ordered the owner to install a protective covering over the house on Nov. 1. The owner had asked for two extensions and was ultimately given until Feb. 16 to comply. The reason for the extension had to do with structural hazards and WorkSafeBC requirements. As of Sunday, the house remained uncovered, its interior subject to a fresh layer of snow....

...Miaofei Pan and wife Wenhuan Yang are listed as the homeowners of 3737 Angus Dr. A year prior to the fire, Mr. Pan was in the news after he hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a Liberal Party fundraiser at another house he owns on the west side. At the time, he told The Globe and Mail that he lobbied Prime Minister Trudeau to make the process easier for wealthy investors to come to Canada from China.

Mr. Pan is a real estate developer and businessman with a complicated history both in Canada and China. He has owned two other homes in Richmond. Those houses had been the subject of safety infractions in 2011 and 2015, as reported by Globe reporters Kathy Tomlinson and Xiao Xu. The houses were held by Mr. Pan's company and, despite the hazards, had up to 13 people living in them. Ms. Tomlinson and Ms. Xu also found out that Mr. Pan and his wife had been on a Chinese government "list of dishonest persons" because they had disobeyed a court order to pay out a $2.2-million loan from an asset-management firm that they had personally guaranteed. Mr. Pan had a long history of alleged debts and lawsuits in China, according to online Chinese language court records....

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-est...n-sparks-heritage-fight/article38029243/