Little Mountain Redevelopment | U/C

[whatnext]

A little more detail today on the BC Liberals' shitty Little Mountain deal:

VANCOUVER -- When the province sold Vancouver’s Little Mountain lands to a company pledging to re-house displaced low-income residents, the deal was controversial for its low price tag for prime land. Now, CTV News has learned only a fraction of that price has been paid, despite the sale and possession taking place more than a decade ago.

Holborn Group bought the 15-acre parcel for $334 million in 2008 and hundreds of low-income families were evicted from the social housing units on the site the following year. Only one temporary and one permanent structure have since been built on the land.

British Columbia’s housing minister has now revealed that the company has only paid a fraction of the purchase price the BC Liberal provincial government under premier Gordon Campbell negotiated, but emphasizes the details of the deal are secret and she doesn’t know when the full amount is actually due.

“There’s a whole bunch of secrecy around the site,” said current Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson on Thursday. “The provincial treasury has only received $40 million of the $334 million, so they’ve only received a small portion of payment … It stinks to me as a taxpayer, it stinks to me as a British Columbian, it stinks to me as a human being seeing that there’s an affordability issue, a housing affordability issue that didn’t just crop up two years ago, it’s been ongoing for a decade and a half.”

CTV News tried reaching Holborn by email and phone, but the company did not respond to requests to discuss the Little Mountain project.

“We haven’t seen the deal; it’s a secret deal the BC Liberals made,” said Robinson, insisting that despite being the government, the BC NDP has no idea when the full amount is due or what the terms of the agreement are with Holborn.

“My understanding is it’s a secret, a deal that was made by a previous cabinet and we don’t get to see previous cabinet documents,” she said...

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/it-stinks-vanc...ands-1.5139076

[djmk]

Imagine buying land for $334 million with the expectations to build on it right away.

12 years later....

Holborn Group was smart to make that a loan. The real question is if they are paying interest and at what rate.

[TwoFace]

Vancouver got scammed, I'm surprised Holborn hasn't flipped the site for some serious profit.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by TwoFace

Vancouver got scammed, I'm surprised Holborn hasn't flipped the site for some serious profit.

maybe its not allowed to flip the site

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by TwoFace

Vancouver got scammed, I'm surprised Holborn hasn't flipped the site for some serious profit.

Just to clarify, the City of Vancouver weren't involved. It was the Liberal Provincial government who owned the site and set up the sale. The City had no say - they just approved the rezoning that required the replacement of the affordable rental units, which also hasn't happened in its entirity yet.

[Feathered Friend]

https://shapeyourcity.ca/137-e-37th-ave


https://www.google.com/earth/

After 3 years of providing stability for some of Vancouver’s most vulnerable, the Temporary Modular Homes at Little Mountain are nearing their end. There is a proposal to provide a brief reprieve to The Beach, but by December, tə cecəw will be gone.
https://shapeyourcity.ca/137-e-37th-ave

https://twitter.com/City_Duo/status/...209770496?s=20

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://shapeyourcity.ca/137-e-37th-ave


https://www.google.com/earth/



https://twitter.com/City_Duo/status/...209770496?s=20

Surely this can’t be because Holborn has actually got their act together to build something?

[hollywoodnorth]

a crane is up

[Klazu]

Never did I expect that one of these hobo hotels would actually end up being temporary. Encouraging to read and I wonder how one looks from inside only after three years?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Never did I expect that one of these hobo hotels would actually end up being temporary. Encouraging to read and I wonder how one looks from inside only after three years?

Great news Klazu! The development site is so big, and progress so slow that they'll be able to continue to reduce homelessness.

"The lease for 137 East 37th expires this year so BC Housing and Coast Mental Health will begin to relocate the tenants.

Later this spring, Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency, on behalf of BC Housing, will be applying for a new temporary Development Permit to relocate the building to 99 E 37th Avenue." [source]

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Never did I expect that one of these hobo hotels would actually end up being temporary. Encouraging to read and I wonder how one looks from inside only after three years?

I have talked to someone who worked in the maintenance of these units.

think ....... DOORS RIPPED OFF, WALLS WITH HOLES PUNCHED IN, INSECTS OF ALL SORTS, WIRING STRIPPED, OUTRIGHT DESTRUCTION OF THE ROOMS AND FACILITIES.


after 3 years ... these buildings are fit for the dump. you could not even donate them to a 3rd world country. people would no put up with it.

[Klazu]

Color me surprised. Friend of mine lives near Cambie Gardens (which is growing quickly!) and immediately following TWO of these hobo nests going up at Heather/59th, crime increased significantly in the surrounding area. I also walked by these buildings last weekend and there is a pile of bicycles under tarp on the front yard. Must be bicycles that residents use for commuting to work...

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Color me surprised. Friend of mine lives near Cambie Gardens (which is growing quickly!) and immediately following TWO of these hobo nests going up at Heather/59th, crime increased significantly in the surrounding area. I also walked by these buildings last weekend and there is a pile of bicycles under tarp on the front yard. Must be bicycles that residents use for commuting to work...

There can be a number of reasons as to why someone ends up homeless, including sudden job loss or family breakdown, severe substance abuse or mental health problems. But most homelessness policies work on the premise that the homeless person has to sort those problems out first before they can get permanent accommodation.

Recently BC has moved towards trying to house people first. Vancouver has been in the lead in providing locations to provide some of that housing. The model that's being followed has been tried in one country - Finland. There's already some permanent non-market housing at Little Mountain, and there will be more in future (and at Cambie Gardens). And in the meantime, there are temporary modular units.

[cov]

Originally Posted by Changing City

There can be a number of reasons as to why someone ends up homeless, including sudden job loss or family breakdown, severe substance abuse or mental health problems. But most homelessness policies work on the premise that the homeless person has to sort those problems out first before they can get permanent accommodation.

bc housing services most certainly do not require the homeless to get a job or make amends with their partner before helping them with housing.

Much of social housing prohibit drug use because of how disruptive addicts are to the people they live with.

[s211]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Color me surprised. Friend of mine lives near Cambie Gardens (which is growing quickly!) and immediately following TWO of these hobo nests going up at Heather/59th, crime increased significantly in the surrounding area. I also walked by these buildings last weekend and there is a pile of bicycles under tarp on the front yard. Must be bicycles that residents use for commuting to work...

Have a colleague leaving the Broadway/Kingsway area, having thrown in the towel after the announcement of the Best Western being converted. The Biltmore was the first nail in the coffin, and Best Western the last. Crime has skyrocketed around his condo building.

I'm awaiting someone to claim that the stats don't support the assertion of rising crime. Let's just say that most people don't report it any more, because the social engineers have won, at least in the eyes of the SJWs.

[GenWhy?]

Haven't seen the track record of Coast Mental Health, who runs Little Mountain, compared to say Rain City at the Biltmore who've been running it for 7 years now, which seems to have more recently had a not so optimal tenant mix after initial fairly decent few years.

Don't think I've heard to much about the Kwayatsut Supportive Housing at Fraser & Broadway (built in 2016 I think?). Seems like Coast Mental Health is doing a fine enough job to extend their housing program here.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by s211

Have a colleague leaving the Broadway/Kingsway area, having thrown in the towel after the announcement of the Best Western being converted. The Biltmore was the first nail in the coffin, and Best Western the last. Crime has skyrocketed around his condo building.

I'm awaiting someone to claim that the stats don't support the assertion of rising crime. Let's just say that most people don't report it any more, because the social engineers have won, at least in the eyes of the SJWs.

Lol.

I just laugh now. The keyboard warriors continue to say the crime stats are not an issue. True. Crime stats are not an issue. But crime is, because the stats are not reflective of reality.

People don't report, and worse, crime in many forms has been legalized.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

I have talked to someone who worked in the maintenance of these units. think ....... DOORS RIPPED OFF, WALLS WITH HOLES PUNCHED IN, INSECTS OF ALL SORTS, WIRING STRIPPED, OUTRIGHT DESTRUCTION OF THE ROOMS AND FACILITIES.

How timely, although these stories are almost daily on Reddit. You don't want one of these anywhere nearby you, that's for sure.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/c...ousing_across/

[rofina]

From the Reddit post, I too find this absolutely perplexing. This should be the #1 issue along with housing affordability, and affordability is lip service only anyway, so really the below should be top of list.

Why is an addiction healthcare facility not the top platform of every Vancouver politician? What can possibly be more important than the basic level of the Maszlow's hierarchy of needs i.e. safety (both for the addicts and the people that are impacted by the theft, attacks, and general disturbance that comes with living beside people with addiction). And before you all get mad - yes i know being an addict does not automatically mean they are aggressive, but I also never heard screaming, had our apartment get broken into, or see so many cops around before this modular housing building was built.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Detox facility on Clark not good enough? Not instigating, it's an honest question.