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Condos | Development | housing | Real Estate | Vancouver
Vancouver Chinatown project pivots from condos to social housing
The Brickhouse development site on the southern edge of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown will be pivoting into a 100% social housing project for its residential uses, removing all of the previous strata market ownership condominium uses. This follows the property’s sale to the Hogan’s Alley Society last year. As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized in April 2024, Bonnis Properties sold their property at 796 Main Street and City’s 2021-approved development plans to Hogan’s Alley Society in November 2023, with the non-profit organization paying the developer $20 million. On the same day the deal was finalized, the federal government’s Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) provided Hogan’s Alley Society with a $25.2 million mortgage. The property is a 12,800 sq ft lot that is largely vacant but contains several small structures — the 1910-built two-storey building fronting Main Street, which contains the Brickhouse Late Night Bistro and Dive Bar, and a 1925-built single-storey building fronting Union Street, which previously housed the Jimi Hendrix shrine. Location of the approved design for 728-796 Main Street, in relation to the future developments on the city-owned blocks to the south, including Hogan’s Alley (right city block). (Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties) Brickhouse development site of 796 Main Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive) Artistic rendering of the 2021-approved design for 728-796 Main Street, Vancouver. (Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties) This week, the City of Vancouver noted it had received an application to allow a change in residential tenure to 100% social housing. The building’s height will also increase slightly from 116 ft to 127 ft, which will enable more floor space — an increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) density from a floor area that is 6.79 times larger than the size of the lot to a density of 7.4 FAR. Other details on the revised project are not available at this time. This application, first submitted in June 2024, is being considered under the City’s Affordable Housing Policies. In February 2021, after a long delay, the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council approved Bonnis Properties’ rezoning application to redevelop 796 Main Street into an 11-storey building with 94 homes, including 75 strata market condominium homes and 19 social housing units, as well as over 6,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses. Artistic rendering of the 2021-approved design for 728-796 Main Street, Vancouver. (Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties) Brickhouse development site of 796 Main Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
B.C. government launches website to deter bad-faith evictions: What you need to know
If you’re a landlord and you want to kick someone out so you can use the apartment for personal use (ie. for your child), you have to register Published Jul 18, 2024 • Last updated Jul 19, 2024 • 4 minute read Thursday marked the launch of a new provincial website intended to protect renters from bad-faith evictions. Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG A new provincial website intended to protect renters from bad-faith evictions went live last week. As of July 18, rental suite owners will be required to use the web portal if they want to reclaim those suites for personal or caretaker use. “The web portal will better protect renters from being evicted in bad faith,” the Housing Ministry said in an email. “Landlords and renters ultimately benefit from an improved rental system that encourages better compliance.” THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. Sign In or Create an Account or Article content Here’s what landlords and renters need to know: What are the changes? Landlords will have to use the portal whenever they plan to issue notices to end tenancy. The portal will explain the conditions required for eviction and the penalties for bad-faith evictions, as well as any amount of compensation landlords will be required to issue to evicted tenants. Landlords giving notices to end tenancy will be required to include information about the people moving into the home. Under the Residential Tenancy Act, a landlord can evict a tenant if they or a close family member, such as a parent, spouse or child, or a superintendent of the building, are moving in to the unit. Landlords evicting tenants in bad faith could be ordered to pay displaced tenants 12 months’ rent. The amount of notice a tenant must receive before being evicted has increased to four months from two. And the time a tenant has to dispute an eviction has increased to 30 days from 15. Also, the person moving in must occupy the home for at least 12 months. Why does the province feel it’s necessary? The information collected will allow post-eviction audits to ensure landlords have followed through on their stated reason to end the tenancy. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Article content Article content “While we have taken actions against bad-faith evictions, some landlords are continuing to evict tenants under the guise of landlord use, only to rent out the unit again, but at a significantly higher rent amount,” the ministry said. “The portal will help ensure notices are properly completed with all required information and records attached.” The time tenants have to dispute evictions was increased to 30 days from 15 to allow them time to find support or advice. “The extension to 30 days gives them more time to gather information and resources accordingly when deciding whether to apply for dispute resolution.” Landlords are being required to give four months’ notice to give renters more time to find another home, the ministry said. “This change is also consistent with the time period for other four-month notices for demolition or conversion of the rental unit, as well as for major renovations.” How do landlords feel about the portal? “The actual portal itself is perfectly fine,” said Hunter Boucher, vice-president of operations with Landlord B.C. “Essentially, it’s like filling out a form, it’s not too much different than filling out a PDF except it prompts you for information.” Article content What the association isn’t happy with is the province doubling both the eviction-notice time and the time to appeal evictions without having first gathered information from the portal after, say, a year’s worth of data has been collected. “How often are evictions disputed? How often are bad-faith evictions actually occurring? All we really know are anecdotal accounts which are occasionally problematic, certainly. Having hard data on that is an important factor,” Boucher said. Is the portal good news for tenants? “The short answer is yes,” said Rob Patterson of the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre. It looks like tenants will get a little more information from landlords who give notice, such as the name of the person who will be moving in, which should
